Citation:    MacUser, May 1994 v10 n5 p50(1)

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Title:       LANsurveyor: Neon Software puts easy network
             troubleshooting on the map. (Software Review) (New on the
             Menu: Reviews ) (Evaluation)

Authors:     Wiseth, Kelli

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Subjects:    Network management software;  Evaluation;  Diagnostics

Companies:   Neon Software Inc._Products

Products:    LANsurveyor (Network configuration management
               software)_Evaluation

Reference #: A15056001

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Abstract: Neon Software Inc's $695 LANsurveyor is a sophisticated
          network-management package that simplifies troubleshooting by
          creating a logical map of an AppleTalk network and letting
          managers inspect and test connections. The program locates all
          network nodes and other objects by discerning which services
          they are advertising; each is assigned a customizable icon,
          and the user can rearrange priorities to make the most
          important information stand out. Objects can then be selected
          for polling, which sends echo packets to selected devices and
          sounds an alert if a packet does not answer, or monitoring,
          which gathers Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)
          traffic statistics. LANsurveyor is an excellent
          troubleshooting and administration tool and is ideal for
          tracking down broken cables, faulty network boards and
          disconnections.

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Full Text COPYRIGHT Ziff-Davis Publishing Company 1994
LANsurveyor 1.0
 
Rating: 4.0 mice
List Price: 5-zone version, $395; unlimited-zone version, $695.
Pros: Cable-based map allows easy device management and
troubleshooting. Collects SNMP data. Can notify you when thresholds
are exceeded.
Cons: Can't automatically gather poll data over time for trend

observation.
Company: Neon Software, Inc., Lafayette,
CA; 800-334-6366 or 510-283-9771;
510-283-6507 (fax).

NEON SOFTWARE'S LANsurveyor combines some of the best features of
network-polling, -monitoring, and -inventory programs under a simple
graphical front end. LANsurveyor builds a logical map of any AppleTalk
network and lets network managers inspect and test connections between
devices. Because LANsurveyor lets you associate icons with any
application you want to launch from within the map, it also makes a
great console for troubleshooting and managing devices on a network.

More Than Mapping

When you create a new map, LANsurveyor discovers all the objects --
nodes such as Macs, printers, network modems, and routers -- in the
selected AppleTalk networks by discerning which services they're
advertising. Each network object is assigned a customizable icon, based
on the highest-priority service it's advertising, and you can juggle
these priorities so the information most important to you stands out on
the map. For example, by assigning AppleShare a higher priority than the
Mac operating system, you can quickly see which Macs on the network are
running AppleShare.

Once the map has been built, you can select objects for polling or
monitoring. Polling sends echo packets to the selected devices; if a
packet doesn't answer in the specified time period, a preconfigured
alarm alerts you by sound, message-display box, QuickMail, or pager
system (the pager system, from Notify, costs $99 extra).

Monitoring devices means gathering SNMP-based traffic statistics for
each device as well as keeping track of the percentage of error packets
(you can have LANsurveyor notify you if the number of errors exceeds a
specified threshold). Because most AppleTalk routers respond to the
required SNMP requests, you can monitor them easily; Macs must have
Apple's MacSNMP client software -- available in AppleTalk Connection for
the Macintosh ($32 for the initial package and $39 more for a 20-user
license) -- installed before you can monitor SNMP data, which is much
more extensive than the basic Responder data.

Polls, monitors, and logs are stored with the map. Unfortunately,
LANsurveyor can't automatically gather poll data over a period of time;
you must save the data under a different name each time it polls,
exporting it to tab-delimited text files. You can then import the files
into a program such as Microsoft Excel to plot the peaks and valleys.

Unlike the mapping modules included with tools such as GraceLAN and
Network Supervisor, LANsurveyor builds a map based on the relationship
of network devices to the physical cable rather than to the zones. This
means you can trace the path between devices for easier troubleshooting.

You double-click on an icon on the map to perform a simple query or
generate a report. And Apple-events support lets you launch other
applications -- for example, you can link Neon's RouterCheck to router
icons and launch it as needed. Customizable note fields let you keep
notes on your findings.

The Bottom Line

Neon Software's LANsurveyor is an excellent network-management and
-troubleshooting tool. Because it uses a cable-based map as its front
end, LANsurveyor is great for tracking down disconnections, broken
cables, and faulty network cards. And because you can collect SNMP-based
traffic data about your routers and those Macs equipped with the MacSNMP
client software, you can set thresholds that let you proactively monitor
your network. To top things off, LANsurveyor 1.1, which runs on PowerPC
Macs, should be available by the time you read this.

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