Network discovery is the process that allows computers and devices to find one another when they are on the same network. It is the initial step system administrators take when they want to map and monitor their network infrastructure. This process is sometimes also referred to as topology discovery.
When connected over a local network, network discovery enables network devices to connect and communicate with the other devices connected to the same network. This allows system administrators to locate devices with ease. With this ability to quickly locate devices on a large network, system admins can then gain better control over infrastructure, create device inventories, and enforce better device-access policies.
What’s more, network discovery allows system administrators to create network maps, which offer a visual representation of network connections. This allows IT teams to potentially identify bottlenecks or points of failure before issues occur, thus limiting costly network downtime
What is the purpose of network discovery?
The purpose of network discovery is to create network maps that help improve visibility into the hardware connected to an enterprise network. Because so many enterprise IT teams have to manage an influx of employee devices, network discovery software can help provide them with better control over their network.
But it’s not just large enterprises with BYOD policies that stand to gain from good network discovery software. Small and medium-sized businesses need tons of IT support when growing at rapid rates. After all, it can be hard to manage and keep track of new printers, routers, access points, and switches when they are brought into a new office space in a short period. MSPs can help these businesses keep track of it all with network discovery tools and support.
Why is network discovery important?
At its most basic level, network discovery is important because every single MSP or IT team—no matter the vertical or size of the company needs to have network visibility to fulfill its duties. Without a thorough knowledge of what devices are connected to the network, an understanding of the relationships between them, and a sense of how they communicate with each other, IT teams are unable to understand the ins and outs of the network. As a result, if a network experiences downtime or an interruption it can be nearly impossible to figure out what went wrong to fix the issue before too much time passes?
Additionally, any business that relies on a combination of virtual networks, wired and wireless networks, and cloud servers will find itself in need of network discovery software. These hybrid networks can quickly complicate network topology and make it difficult to identify the root cause of an issue when it occurs. Network discovery helps solve this issue by illuminating network connections so MSPs can more quickly troubleshoot bottlenecks that affect a business’s day-to-day operations.
Network discovery is becoming increasingly important given that current networks are beginning to look very different from how they used to. With digital operations scaling rapidly and personal devices serving new functions in the workplace, IT teams can no longer rely on monitoring basic performance metrics to keep network health at an acceptable baseline. Instead, MSPs and IT admins must turn to network discovery tools to investigate internal activity and ensure that all devices can access the network as needed. Network discovery acts as a crucial first step for looking more closely at activity on a large, dynamic network.
Network discovery can also be a crucial cyber security asset. For example, an invalid IP address is often a sign of malicious or rogue devices that might be carrying malware. IT teams need to be aware of these devices as soon as possible or otherwise risk getting hit with a costly data breach. Since network discovery’s primary objective is to locate and map allocated IP addresses, IT teams can more easily identify which device IP addresses are valid and which aren’t. With a network discovery tool, MSPs can run regular scans to make sure there aren’t any threat actors sitting quietly on the ends of a network.
Finally, network discovery can improve digital security by helping MSPs and IT admins discover which ports are open on their connected devices. Any open ports on a device that aren’t critical to operations have the potential to be a security risk. By locating and mapping the ports on a network, network discovery can help administrators ensure ports aren’t unnecessarily exposed to threats.
How does network discovery work?
On the user end, executing network discovery with the appropriate tools is not that complicated. An effective network discovery or network inventory tool can do most of the heavy lifting for you. But to understand how these tools work, it’s first important to understand the role of discovery protocols in the network discovery process. To perform network discovery, IT teams utilize common discovery protocols that help them discover and track the devices on a network.
There are three primary discovery protocols: Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP), and ping. SNMP is an Internet Standard protocol that allows IT teams to aggregate and organize data about the devices on a network. LLDP is a vendor-neutral protocol. If LLDP is enabled on a device it will transmit device information to its directly connected neighbor during regularly scheduled intervals. The neighboring devices store this data on management information databases (MIBs) that MSPs and IT teams can access at will.
Ping is very different from SNMP and LLDP. It’s a software utility that IT teams leverage to test the reachability of devices on an IP network. It does this by sending Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) queries and measuring the round-trip time of messages sent from the originating host to a destination computer and back.
How does network discovery software work?
Network discovery software leverages different processes to help teams better understand their network topology. For example, they can help you locate the devices connected to a network by applying the above different discovery protocols. These protocols will discover and collect information about:
- Virtual computers and networks
- Hardware on a network, like switches, servers, firewalls, printers, and servers
- Software on a network, like applications and operating systems
- The logical and physical relationships between network assets
A network device discovery tool gathers this data by running IP scans, using ping sweep, and polling devices with SNMP monitoring. While it’s possible for MSPs to perform these tasks manually for their customers, network discovery software can automate the process to complete discovery much more rapidly than a manual worker. However, not all network discovery services are built the same, so MSPs need to find a solution that fits their needs.
N‑able RMM is a full-stack, cloud-based remote IT management suite that enables MSPs to locate and manage devices as they appear on customers’ networks. RMM helps MSPs keep their customers safe from data breaches, improves their service offerings in a device-driven era, and enables them to deliver dependable IT services within a matter of hours. RMM can act as an auto discovery tool that helps MSPs locate devices, view their details, check their connection logs, and proactively monitor their health and performance. By utilizing RMM, MSPs can take up a more proactive IT strategy to help their customers avoid network downtime and improve network visibility. What’s more, RMM is highly scalable, which means it can be deployed on rapidly expanding networks that grow with your customers.
How to Enable Network Discovery and Configure Sharing Options in Windows 10
Network discovery is an underrated and often misunderstood feature that allows Windows 10 to find other computers and devices on a network. This feature is automatically turned on when you’re connected to private networks like the one in your home or workplace but turned off when you’re connected to public networks that shouldn’t be trusted and when you don’t allow your PC to be discoverable on those networks.
Enable network discovery
If your Windows 10 computer or device can’t view other computers on the network, two things are probably at fault: You either assigned the incorrect network profile (public instead or private), or network discovery is turned off for some reason.
Here’s how to activate network discovery in Windows 10 for your active network profile:
- Open Settings.
The Settings window appears.
- Click Network & Internet.
Your network and Internet-related settings are shown.
- In the panel on the left, click either Wi-Fi (if you’re connected to a wireless network) or Ethernet (if you’re connected to a network using a network cable).
A window with settings for your network appears.
- Find the Related setting section on the right, then click Change Advanced Sharing Settings.
The Advanced Sharing Settings window appears.
- Expand the network profile currently assigned to your network connection.
It is marked with the words “current profile” on the right side of its name.
- In the Network discover section, select “Turn on network discovery.” Also, check the box that says “Turn on automatic setup of network connected devices.”
- Click Save Changes.
- Close the Settings window.
Enable file and printer sharing
When you’re connected to private networks, Windows 10 automatically turns on the File and Printer Sharing setting. In this way, you can easily share folders, files, and printers with other computers and devices in your network. However, if your network administrator adjusts this setting, you may need to manually turn it on or off, depending on your needs.
Here’s how to activate the File and Printer Sharing setting in Windows 10 for your active network connection:
- Open Settings.
The Settings window appears.
- Click Network & Internet.
Your network and Internet-related settings are shown.
- In the panel on the left, click either Wi-Fi (if you’re connected to a wireless network) or Ethernet (if you’re connected to a network using a network cable).
A window with settings for your network appears.
- Find the Related setting section on the right, then click Change Advanced Sharing Settings.
The Advanced Sharing Settings window appears.
- Expand the network profile currently assigned to your network connection.
It’s identified as the “current profile.”
- In the File and Printer Sharing section, select Turn on File and Printer Sharing.
- Click Save Changes.
- Close the Settings window
Enable public folder sharing
The Public folder is located on your hard drive in C: Users Public. All user accounts registered in Windows have access to it. That’s why it’s named Public. Any file and folder found in C: Users Public is completely accessible to all users on the computer. Depending on your network sharing settings, this folder and its contents can also be accessed by all other computers and devices that are part of the same network.
To turn on Public Folder Sharing, follow these steps:
- Open Settings.
The Settings window appears.
- Click Network & Internet.
Your network and Internet-related settings are shown.
- In the panel on the left, click either Wi-Fi (if you’re connected to a wireless network) or Ethernet (if you’re connected to a network using a network cable).
A window with settings for your network appears.
- Find the Related setting section on the right and click Change Advanced Sharing Settings.
The Advanced Sharing Settings window appears.
- Scroll down and expand the All Networks category of settings.
- In the Public Folder Sharing section, select Turn On Sharing So Anyone with Network Access Can Read and Write Files in the Public Folders.
- Click Save Changes.
- Close the Settings window.
Enable password-protected sharing
When Password Protected Sharing is turned on, only people who have a user account and password on your computer or network domain (in the case of business networks) can access shared files and printers attached to your Windows 10 computer or device, as well as your public folders. It’s a good idea to avoid disabling Password Protected Sharing, but you may need to do that in some situations, such as when you want to give other people access.
To turn on Password Protected Sharing, follow these steps:
- Open Settings.
The Settings window appears.
- Click Network & Internet.
Your network and Internet-related settings are shown.
- In the panel on the left, click either Wi-Fi (if you’re connected to a wireless network) or Ethernet (if you’re connected to a network using a network cable).
A window with settings for your network appears.
- Find the Related setting section on the right and click Change Advanced Sharing Settings.
The Advanced Sharing Settings window appears.
- Scroll down and expand the All Networks category of settings.
- In the Password Protected Sharing section, select Turn On Password Protected Sharing
- Click Save Changes.
- Close the Settings window.
Network discovery tools
Network discovery is a process of identifying or mapping internal networks. In this process, a particular computer can communicate with another computer on the same network using a protocol. In a given organization, a network is a setup in such a way that computers can communicate and share files internally.
A network discovery tool is a tool or software which is used to scan a network to discover all the devices on a specific network. These tools scan a range of IP addresses to show the live devices in a given network. You can also find the devices which are turned off subject to an IP address assigned to them. These tools can fetch details of wired as well as wireless connections. These tools use SNMP, TCP, ICMP, etc. to discover hosts.
Common uses of network discovery tools
From a hacker’s point of view, a network discovery tool is used to find a live host in a network. It is used to view the MAC address, Name of the computer, IP address & uptime. By using these tools a hacker can create an accurate map of the internal network.
The modern network discovery tools do more than just find live hosts:-
- It is used to scan open ports on a target system.
- It is used to know what operating system is running on a target system.
- It is used to capture packets from a target network.
- It is used to alter a device’s IP and make changes to the network.
- It can be used to bring down a network simply by flooding it with packets.
Network scanners VS monitoring tools
Network scanners & networking monitoring tools do the same thing i.e. map the network. However, there are some differences between them.
Network scanner: – It is a tool to discover devices on a network. It can scan from larger corporate networks to small home networks. It identifies the range of IP addresses. This tool is used to scan networks for vulnerabilities in the security of that network.
Monitoring tools: – It is a tool which is to configure/monitors a network. It is used to monitor overloading, connection issue & or server issues continuously. This is mostly carried out through software. It is widely used to monitor whether a given service on the network is working properly or not. It is capable of detecting and reporting failures of devices or connections.
Network scanners
- It is used to scan networks for vulnerabilities.
- It could be used either by a hacker or an admin.
- The software is not required to scan a network.
Monitoring tools
- It is used to monitor a network for issues.
- It could be used either by a hacker or an admin.
- The software is required to monitor a network.
Top scanners/monitoring tools
Nagios: – It is a free & open source software that monitors the System network & infrastructure. Nagios offers to monitor and alerting services for servers, switches, applications, and services. It alerts users when things go wrong and alert them a second time when the problem has been resolved. It is fully customized depending on business requirements.
Catch: – It is a free & open source network graphing solution designed to harness the power of RRDTool’s data storage and graphing functionality. This is a web-based network monitoring application. Common usage is to monitor network traffic by polling a network switch or router interface via a Simple Network Management Protocol.
Nmap: – It is a free and open-source tool for network discovery & security auditing. It is one of the top & most preferred network scanners on the internet. Nmap is a small but powerful tool available. This tool provides several features including OS detection. You can also extend its capabilities by using scripts. Nmap is also capable of adapting to network conditions including latency and congestion during a scan. There is also a GUI version available which is known as Zen map. This tool is available on all OS platforms (Linux, Windows & MAC).
Nessus: – Nessus is one of the world’s most popular vulnerability scanners. It is a vulnerability scanner that is available free for personal use & it is chargeable for enterprises. It has a GUI.
Mass can: – Well one word that describes this tool is FAST. Yes, this tool is the fastest network scanner, ten times faster than any other network scanner. This tool can transmit up to 10 million packets/second, which is fast enough to scan the entire internet in just 6 minutes. It produces similar results to Nmap but it is faster & flexible. To get beyond 2 million packets/second, you need a dual port 10-Gbps Ethernet adapter. It does have a web interface. It can be used on Windows, Linux & MAC.
Wire shark: – Well basically this is a network analysis tool. However, this can be used to map a network. This tool is used to capture, filter & inspect packets in a network. As a network packet analyzer, Wire shark can peer inside the network and examine the details of traffic at a variety of levels, ranging from connection-level information to the bits comprising a single packet. Wire shark lets the user put network interface controllers that support promiscuous mode into that mode so that they can see all traffic visible on that interface. This tool has a GUI front and supports Windows, Linux & Mac distributions.
Solar winds: – It is a set of tools bundled into the software. It provides powerful yet easy-to-use enterprise-class network management software designed by network professionals for network professionals.
OpenVas: – An open Vulnerability Assessment System (OpenVAS) is a framework of several services and tools offering a comprehensive and powerful vulnerability scanning and vulnerability management solution. It is accompanied by a regularly updated feed of Network Vulnerability Tests. this tool is the most widespread Open Source solution for vulnerability scanning and vulnerability management. It is used and improved worldwide by people ranging from security experts to private users.
Network device discovery method
Network discovery is a process that helps to map and monitor your network infrastructure. All the network devices can connect and communicate with each other.
The virtual and mobile networks are changing dynamically, so it is essential to have an automatic discovery for continuous device onboarding. It helps to monitor the network state, to identify bottlenecks and failures, and to ensure optimum network efficiency.
The discovery methods that function at layer 3, discover the devices, resources, and their properties in the network. Typically, there are three methods of discovery:
- The network discovery process gathers information about resources on your network. Make sure that you always gave the most up-to-date inventory of the discovered resources and resource types.
- After the discovery, the discovered devices and their resources are stored in the Cassandra database in the Inventory Service.
- Probe-based discovery
Discover probes are sent to the network, which scans the network and sends the device data through a secured connection.
How to manually identify unknown devices on a network
A simple way to identify an “unknown device on a network” is through the command-line interface (CLI) of your computer system. Operating systems such as Windows, Linux, and macOS have their own set of networking commands such as “ipconfig” and “ping” for basic scanning and troubleshooting. Mapping network devices also requires an understanding of IP address allocation. To communicate with other nodes or machines in a network, a device requires a unique IP address. The address is either dynamically assigned by a DHCP server or static and manually.
- Open the Command prompt or Terminal in your Windows, Linux, or macOS system.
- Search all the network settings, such as default gateway and IP address, through the command prompt.
- For Windows:Type “ipconfig” and hit enter. It will display the subnet mask, the default gateway, and the IPv4 address of your computer.
- For Linux and macOS:Enter the “ifconfig” command to view all the network settings.
Type the command “arp -a” to view the list of all IP addresses connected to your network. This will also display the MAC address and the allocation type (static and dynamic) of all your network devices.
- Type “lookup” followed by any IP address obtained through the “arp” command in the previous step. This will show the hostname of entered IP address or any unknown device on the network.
How to automatically identify unknown devices on a network
Manual identification of devices and their associated IP addresses in large, hybrid or multi-vendor networks is often time-consuming for IT teams.
Network device discovery software automatically scans and monitors network devices and maintains an updated asset inventory, making it an effective solution for companies with burning questions such as how to quickly identify devices on the network. You can quickly track the IP and MAC address, connection speed, and port details of all connected devices with such software. Network discovery tools use various discovery protocols such as SNMP, LLDP, and CDP to gather detailed device information. In addition, such tools use ping sweeps to detect the active status of network equipment. Devices or hosts that don’t respond to ICMP echo requests made by discovery tools are termed inactive.
Modern network discovery tools can also help you visually analyze your devices’ logical and physical connections using dynamic network maps. These maps can detect unknown devices and changes to the network topology. For example, you can discover all the unauthorized links made by a compromised or rogue device using network mapping and subsequently block them. With packet-level analysis of network traffic, scanning tools allow you to drill down to the root causes of network slowdown, detect unusual traffic, and help prevent security issues.