Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!hellgate.utah.edu!helios.ee.lbl.gov!pasteur!ucbvax!hplabs!hpl-opus!hpspdra!jpeck
From: jpeck@hpspdra.HP.COM (Joe Peck)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip
Subject: Re: managing addresses
Message-ID: <11990003@hpspdra.HP.COM>
Date: 8 Dec 89 18:02:22 GMT
References: <8912061559.AA02405@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Organization: HP Intelligent Networks Operation
Lines: 29

Many of the protocol analyzers (HP4972, Network General Sniffer, Excelan,
Spider Systems, etc.) will compile a list of all ethernet source addresses 
seen and even keep track of which nodes generate the most traffic.  

The HP LanProbe keeps a database of ethernet addresses and also learns
the IP addresses of nodes.  The database can also age (remove or show as
inactive) nodes that haven't transmitted in a given time interval, e.g.
the past 10 days.  When used in conjunction with a little extra hardware,
called the Node Locator, the LanProbe can also determine a node's cable,
position.  This can be quite useful for mapping your net, figuring out 
what nodes are behind bridges/repeaters, and for finding cable fault locations 
without having to walk the cable.

I believe Hughes Lan Systems (formerly Sytek) has something similar,
although I don't know if it includes node distance information.

The LanProbe/ProbeView system and the HLS product differ from
traditional protocol analyzers in that the information is collected 
from distributed sites and then communicated over the net to a central 
information manager/database, which in turn presents the
information graphically, usually in a windowed application.

Send me mail if you'd like some LanProbe product literature.

Joe Peck
HP Design Engineer (on the LanProbe product)

Disclaimer: I currently work on the LanProbe product, and before that I
	    worked on the HP4972 Lan protocol analyzer.