Netdisco is an Open Source web-based network management tool first released publically in 2003. The target users are large corporate and university networks administrators. Data is collected into a Postgres database using SNMP and presented with a clean web interface using Mason. Configuration information and connection data for network devices are retrieved via SNMP. Data is stored using a SQL database for scalability and speed. Layer-2 topology protocols such as CDP and LLDP provide automatic discovery of the network topology. Here are some of the favorite uses for this tool: Locate a machine on the network by MAC or IP and show the switch port it lives at. Turn Off a switch port while leaving an audit trail. Admins log why a port was shut down. Inventory your network hardware by model, vendor, switch-card, firmware and operating system. Report on IP address and switch port usage: historical and current. Pretty pictures of your network.
Netdisco gets all its data, including topology information, with SNMP polls and DNS queries. It does not use CLI access and has no need for privilege passwords.