13. 06. 2022
NetEye, Unified Monitoring
The network discovery tool NeDi does not only work as discovery tool for network devices like switches, routers and VOIP phones, it is also an excellent backup manager for switches.
In almost all companies VLAN’s, routings, etc. are configured on its switches. However, not every network administrator is conscious of the risk in case the different switches may lose their configuration. Such configuration losses can be caused by broken hardware, human attacks, and so on.
Which risks derive from a potential configuration loss?
Generally, the possibility to lose a switch configuration is always underestimated, although the negative impact of it could be very high.
Meanwhile, in almost all companies the core switch and many other switches are configured with VLAN’s. Moreover, on the core switches we mainly find also routing configurations.
If a switch with a very detailed configuration gets broken and you have no valid backup, it is possible that you lose more than a whole workday to reconfigure the switch. Maybe you are not able to reconfigure the switch at all, because the configuration has been done by a consultant or by another employee. Suppose you are not able to contact the person who has configured the switch… This may end up in a disaster for the company you are working for, since people couldn’t work in the meantime.
However, a backup strategy is not only useful for disaster cases, but also in case of configuration mistakes. With a serious switch configuration backup strategy, you are able to compare different configurations with each other. In this way, you can easily add configurations or remove changes done by another colleague.
Other advantages of a switch configuration backup
You can use NetEye for alerting configuration changes on the switches. In that way, it is easy for you to find configuration issues in case a colleague has done wrong changes without your knowledge.
In addition, you can use the NeDi switch configuration backup function for internal or external auditing.
How can I do a configuration backup of a switch?
Fortunately, you are able to do configuration backups of different switch vendors like HP, Cisco, Extreme, H3c, etc. by using NeDi, to protect you from this risk.
With NeDi you are able to do configuration backups of heterogeneous switch vendors. The configurations are saved on the NeDi database and on the file system. NeDi is able to recognize configuration changes and to backup the switch configuration in case of a change.
Tobias Goller
NetEye Solution Architect at Würth Phoenix
I started my professional career as a system administrator.
Over the years, my area of responsibility changed from administrative work to the architectural planning of systems.
During my activities at Würth Phoenix, the focus of my area of responsibility changed to the installation and consulting of the IT system management solution WÜRTHPHOENIX NetEye.
In the meantime, I take care of the implementation and planning of customer projects in the area of our unified monitoring solution.
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