netViz – what next?

Options for Existing netViz Users

Background
Introduced in the mid 90s, netViz software was adopted by many companies to visualise their
complex IT infrastructures. This document is designed to help existing netViz users
understand how to get more value out of their existing investment, as well as potential
alternative solutions. The AssetGen Connect infrastructure database was initially introduced in
2006 and was designed to use the visualisation capabilities of netViz, based on our
experience of over 10 years deploying netViz in the UK. The AssetGen product range was
extended with Version 2 to include Visio 2007, giving customers the choice of both netViz and
Visio visualisation outputs.

This document assumes the reader has existing knowledge of the netViz desktop products,
WebView and the Enterprise Server. This document complements the AssetGen product
literature and FAQs available at www.assetgen.com

Q. If I have netViz already, what are the existing integration features between
netViz and the AssetGen Products today?

AssetGen Connect – Physical Infrastructure Management

1 NetViz projects can use a common data source to represent multiple technology views
(network, power, SAN) in both automated and ad hoc diagrams
2 Automated physical layout and refresh of sites, buildings, cabinets, devices, cards, ports
3 Automated connectivity and refresh between devices and diagrams at port level
4 End to end logical connections are calculated between devices for connectivity
5 Physical connections are calculated between devices, patch panels, interlinks
6 Embedding of device and other data into the netViz catalog objects
7 Embedding of hyperlinks to go straight back into AssetGen Connect from netViz
diagrams (hyperlinks work in netviz project, enterprise client and enterprise web server)
8 Embedding of hyperlinks to AssetGen SysMap for software or service impact analysis
9 netViz compatible views are created within AssetGen with embedded hyperlinks, data
attributes and hierarchy information
10 Support for visual overrides for colour, status, style and symbols
11 Parent / child flags for heirarchy layout of chassis, cards, virtual servers, ports, devices
12 Colour coding of devices with incomplete or in-progress work orders
13 Links can have IP address, VLAN, speed, cable ID automatically added

AssetGen SysMap – Systems and Service Mapping (ITIL CMDB Visualisation)

1 Automated generation of netViz service maps from hardware, software or service
perspectives with objects (CIs) and relationships.
2 netViz compatible text files for regular updating of existing service maps
3 Embedding of hyperlinks to go straight back into AssetGen SysMap to all objects
(hyperlinks work in netviz project, enterprise client and enterprise web server)
4 Embedding of object or CI classification data into netViz
5 Embedded hyperlinks back into AssetGen Connect to see where physical servers are
6 Embedded service map title within netViz project holding diagram settings
7 Automated import of service map data from netViz into the SysMap database to reduce
transcription errors

.
 2. What do I get with the AssetGen range that I can’t do with netViz alone to
understand the added value of a database driven diagrams?

AssetGen Connect – Physical Infrastructure Management

1 Multi-user, intranet based application with various controls over updates and reporting
2 Capacity reporting of rack, ports, power with filtering by location and equipment types
3 Easy path tracing at a port level across multiple hops
4 Easy tracing of connectivity at device or chassis level to multiple destinations
5 Validation checking of connections and paths
6 Cabinet layout and connectivity immediately updated with data changes, no need to
refresh a netViz diagram
7 Powerful filtering and search criteria consistent across viewing, patching and reporting
8 Audit trail of changes to devices and attribute data, identifying source of change
9 Audit trail of user access
10 Work order system to plan, allocate and schedule changes
11 Build instructions and work order task flow
12 Attribute templates grouped for easy maintenance
13 Connectivity maintenance, reservation and patching is much easier for non-experts
14 Links and connections that reflect multi-way cables as well as copper and fibre
15 Automated updates from multiple sources such as discovery, monitoring systems, asset
lists using ODBC, CSV and other formats (part of AssetGen utilities)
16 Database structures covering IP addressing variations
17 Standard reporting engine included within solution (Crystal Reports)
18 Linkage between physical and system mapping databases for impact analysis

AssetGen SysMap – Systems and Service Mapping (ITIL CMDB Visualisation)

1 Flexible database structure for mapping hardware, software, services, users, processes
that is typically too complex for netViz to map directly
2 Analysis form to query complex system dependencies
3 Import of existing CMDB, service desk mapping data
4 Audit trails of changes and user access
5 Advanced filtering enables multiple mapping techniques to be overlaid on common
components without confusion (service, process, data flows etc.)
6 Reports identifying orphaned CIs and status (Crystal Reports)
7 Grouping of relationships and attributes for easy maintenance and reporting
8 Easy updates to existing netViz diagrams to preserve manual layout choices

AssetGen Planner – Data Centre Planning and Change Impact Analysis

1 Searching and finding of cabinet space meeting space, power, connectivity needs
2 Templates that enable repetitive search use for standard hardware components
3 Front and back rack views with embedded hyperlinks to devices
4 Automated generation of rack and room views in Visio with embedded links
5 Change impact analysis using device, rack, location and connection start points
6 Capacity reports covering space, power, connectivity (Crystal Reports)

As can be seen, the AssetGen range provides additional functionality to netViz, plus it is
designed to directly support visualisation of complex infrastructures.

3. If I have the netViz Enterprise Server, can I use the same platform for
AssetGen Connect and SysMap?

AssetGen Connect and AssetGen SysMap run on a standard Windows 2003 server
platform with MS SQL 2005 – similar to the netViz enterprise server. They can share the
same platform (as we do for internal demo systems), run in virtualised environments etc. If
you need more detail please look at our technical FAQs, or contact us directly.
 4. Can I take my existing netViz data and transfer it straight into AssetGen
with minimal effort?

netViz projects are typically well structured so migration to an underlying database is

typically much easier than from spreadsheets. The following service options are available
to help achieve a seamless transition to a working AssetGen system;

a) assessment of existing netviz projects structure and content

b) generation of templates based on netViz fields
c) data transformation for uploading
d) professional assistance to help standards, workflow and update processes
e) additional data capture or verification of existing data
f) importing of data from other sources such as monitoring or discovery tools
g) generation of netViz or Visio templates

We’ll be glad to discuss the options to make the transition as quick and smooth as
possible.

5. Does Visio 2007 provide any additional functionality or benefits over

netViz that may help justify migrating the data sooner rather than later?

Apart from the issue of netViz availability and support, we have identified some particular
customer benefits that an AssetGen/Visio solution has. For instance;

a) Saving Visio diagrams as Web pages embeds hyperlinks, data and enables
zooming in standard browsers – so the netViz Enterprise Web Server may not
be needed to distribute understanding across an intranet.

b) AssetGen Planner generates Visio rack diagrams directly with almost no

configuration requirements compared to the effort of creating a custom netViz
project.

c) We can automatically check certain Visio diagrams prior to updating,

determining if there are differences or changes before deciding to update.
Where manual layouts are required, this can save considerable time.

d) It is much easier to transfer Visio files with embedded data to colleagues than
with netViz, which requires a netViz client.

e) The AssetGen product range is based on the industry standard MS SQL2005

database, enabling custom reporting and integration with other systems. We’ll
be glad to help with enquiries about interfacing with other systems.

If you have any questions, or would like discuss the best approach for your organisation
please contact AssetGen directly or one of our resellers.

www.assetgen.com

Microsoft SQL Server, Windows 2003 Server and Visio are of Microsoft Corporation.
netViz is a registered trademarks of CA Inc - all rights acknowledged
All other product names used herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.