Using Topology

Topology looks at the devices and links in your network and puts them in an interactive topology map.

The map has several main components:

• Zoom Control. Click and to change the zoom level of your topology map, or click to return to the full screen. In addition to using the zoom controls, you can use your mouse and keyboard, or touchscreen and trackpad to:
  • Pan and zoom to view specific parts of the map.
  • Recenter your map.
  • Drag and drop a node (in planetary view). For information about views, see Select Your Layout.
  • Drag and drop the bird's eye view to anywhere in the map.

• Alert Notifications. Click the icon to view changes in your network topology.
• Search Field. Find devices by name or IP address. For more information about finding devices in the network topology, see Locate Your Device.
• Task Pane. Click the tabs to access shortcuts to tools and tasks, such as changing the map layout or mapping your network devices, including devices that are part of a spanning tree. For more information about using these tools, see Set up your Map.
• Topology Map. Click anywhere in the topology map to rearrange nodes, view tooltips, and access shortcuts to monitoring pages. Click to hide and unhide the bird's eye view. For more information about accessing monitoring information, see Check the Status of your Network.

Getting Started

1. Set up your Map
2. Check the Status of your Network
3. Take Action from Quick Links
4. View Device and Stack Membership Details
5. Run a Command

Set up your Map

Topology provides several ways to make finding your devices and visualizing links fast and easy. When setting up your map, you can locate your device, select your layout, pin a device, show spanning trees and show VLANs, apply filters, set a root node, save your preferences, and collapse your view.

Locate Your Device

You can search for devices by name or IP address. Topology limits the results to show devices based on your user role permissions.

To search for a device:

1. Go to Home > Topology, then click the search field.
2. Select a device from the list. You can narrow down the list by typing at least 2 characters or numbers in the search field, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1  Locating a Device

Figure 2 shows the device centered on the map and highlighted in orange with device details displayed in the task pane. For information about device status and health indicators, see View Device and Stack Membership Details and Check the Status of your Network.

Figure 2  Search Result

Select Your Layout

You can rearrange the way the topology map displays the connections from the root node to other nodes. If you select a device to reposition it on the map, the device and its connections move with it. Some nodes might not have connections and look like islands on the map.

To change the layout, choose from the following View options in the task pane:

• Top Down. Creates a topology map that flows from top to bottom.
• Bottom Up. Creates a topology map that flows from bottom to top.
• Left Right and Right Left. Creates a topology map that flows from left to right, or right to left.
• Planetary. Creates topology map that shows devices connected to a hub, spread without overlapping.

Arrange Devices on the Map

You can arrange the devices anywhere you want on the map, making it easier to see them and work with the map, by turning off Auto Arrange. When moving around the map, Topology keeps your pinned devices in the map.

To arrange a device on the map:

1. Click Auto Arrange from the View options in the task pane.

   Figure 3  Selecting Auto Arrange

   

2. Drag and drop the device to a new location in the map.

To unpin the device, click Auto Arrange again. You'll see that Topology removes all pins and redistributes the devices evenly across the map.

Show Spanning Tree Members

Topology learns which devices are part of a spanning tree from the switch using the STP protocol and highlights the devices that are part of the spanning tree in the topology map, as shown in Figure 4. To view the spanning tree membership, select a spanning tree from the View > Overlay menu in the task pane.

When you hover over a device in a spanning tree, the tooltip now shows additional spanning tree details.

Figure 4   Spanning Tree Overlay

Topology also displays STP ports that are in blocking state. When you hover over the link circle in the topology map, the tooltip shows the link types and STP port status, as shown in Figure 5.

Clicking on the link shows you link details in the task pane. A link with a circle in middle denotes an aggregated link, and a link with a number label denotes multiple links. A dotted link denotes there is a blocking port--either a single, multiple, or all ports blocked.

Figure 5  Viewing Blocked STP Ports

Show VLANs

When you select a VLAN from the View > Overlay menu in the task pane, nodes and their connections are highlighted and shadowed in the VLAN view, as shown in Figure 6.

Topology also displays and highlights down devices, obtaining the VLAN information from the last time AirWave polled the devices.

Figure 6  Selecting a VLAN Overlay

Apply Filters

You can customize the topology map by applying filters to your map. Filters affect which devices show up on your map. For example, you might create a filter to view only switches. When you filter by folders, user roles determine which folders are visible.

Nodes on the map can include access points, switches, switch stacks, wireless controllers, IP access controllers, and routers. By default, access points are hidden from map view to help you visualize your switching infrastructure.

To apply a filter:

1. Select Filter from the task pane.
2. To show or hide a device in the topology map, click the check mark next to the device type in the Devices list.
3. To show only devices from a folder in the topology map, select that folder from the Folders drop down list. After selecting folders, AirWave alerts you to impact to performance due to the number of nodes that Topology will plot. You might want to put devices in different folders to reduce the topology load time.

If there are more than 250 edges in the topology, AirWave displays the message shown in Figure 7. Click Proceed to load, or click Cancel to select preferred folders.

Figure 7  High Device Count in AirWave Notification

If there are more than 250 devices in the selected folder, AirWave displays the message shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8  High Device Count in Folder Notification

The topology map shown in Figure 9 has been filtered to display only switches in the Top > SIM > Lab_HP folder.

Figure 9  Filtered Map View

Table 1: Device Icons

	Controller
	Switch (L2)
	Stack switch (L2)
	Switch router (L3 Switch)
	Stack switch (L3)
	Router
	AP

Set the Root Node

You might want to change the root node that Topology places at the top of the topology map. If you have a network which is separated from another network, you can set a root node on each island.

To change the root node:

1. Locate the device in the topology map.
2. Select Actions from the task pane.
3. Highlight the node in the map, then click Actions in the task pane.
4. Select Set As Root. Topology highlights the node and updates the map to show the new root node. Changes can be made by selecting Reset Root Nodes.

Figure 10  Setting the Root Node

Saving Your Preferences

After changing your layout, filters, or root node, you can save your custom map.

To save your preferences:

1. Select a layout, filter, or root node.
2. Select Actions from the task pane.
3. Locate the Preferences section, then select Save. Clicking Restore applies your last saved preferences for layout, filters, and root nodes.

Figure 11  Saving Your Preferences

Changing the Default Expansion

User preferences defined on the Devices > List page affect the way AirWave displays the network in the topology map. The default expansion is collapsed and based on the folder level you last visited. If your view is collapsed, you will only see devices from that folder level.

To change the default expansion:

1. Navigate to Devices > List.
2. Click the, Default Expansion drop-down menu and select Expanded.

   

3. Click the Topology icon () beside the Default Expansion menu to return to the Home > Topology page. The topology map displays the devices in the selected folder in expanded view.

Check the Status of your Network

The colored icons show device status, number of rogues, CPU and memory utilization, and bandwidth usage. Green generally means everything is good, yellow is average, and orange requires your attention.

Device Status

Colored circles in the topology map and colored arrows in the tooltip or Details tab indicate that:

• (next to the device icon) there are no alerts or detected rogues.
• (next to the device icon) there are 1 to 2 alerts and no detected rogues.
• (next to the device icon) there are at least 2 alerts or 1 or more detected rogues.
• the device is up.
• the device is down.

Health Status

Colored circles in the tooltip or Detail tab, or colored link lines in the topology map indicate that:

• more than 25% memory is available and less than 75% CPU is used and no detected rogues.
• (more than 15% memory is available and less than 85% CPU is used and no detected rogues.
• less than 15% memory is available and more than 85% CPU is used or one or more detected rogues.
• less than 70% bandwidth is used.
• between 70% and 90% bandwidth is used.

Link Status

Colored link lines in the topology map indicate that:

• the link is up.
• the link is down.

Take Action from Quick Links

Topology provides access to monitoring information from quick links in tooltips and device details in the task pane.

View Tooltips

Tooltips provide quick links to the monitoring page for the device or the switch interface. Tooltips also display potential problems on a device. Alerts are colored orange in the tooltip.

To view tooltips, hover your mouse over:

• A node, which is represented by the device icon in the topology map.
• The link, which is the represented by the line between two switches.
• The link count, which is represented as a number alongside the link between two switches.

In Figure 12, the tooltip for a node shows you the name of the device, device type, model, and a health alert.

Figure 12  Tooltip for a Node

In Figure 13, the tooltip for a network link shows an alert for a down device. You can click the hyperlinks to troubleshoot the problem.

Figure 13  Tooltip for a Link

In Figure 14, the green link circle indicates that the link is aggregated; the link count indicates that there are 4 logical links, of which are 2 individual links and 2 aggregated links.

Figure 14  Tooltip for an Aggregated Link

The tooltip also shows whether the redundant links between tree members are dynamic, between 2 peers that support LACP, or aggregated, between 2 peers that support HP_LA. In Figure 14, "alternative link" refers to the number of non-aggregated redundant links. If you point your mouse over the link count, the tooltip provides a hyperlink to the switch interface monitoring page.

Figure 15 shows the tooltip for stack member. You can access monitoring pages from the hyperlinks in the tooltip.

Figure 15  Tooltip for a Stack Member

View Device and Stack Membership Details

The Details task pane provides information, health and status indicators, and quick links to monitoring pages.

To view device and stack membership details:

• Search for a device or switch stack
• Click the node in the map
• Click a connection in the map

In Figure 16, you can see that the health of the network connection, represented as an orange line in the topology map, is critical. Thicker lines represent multiple links between devices. By clicking on the links to the switch ports, you can troubleshoot further.

Figure 16  Connected Devices and Switch Interface Details

In Figure 17, you can see information about all members in the stack commanded by the switch that is highlighted in orange on the map. The health of the network connection, represented as an orange circle in the Details task pane, alerts you to critical status. By clicking on the links to the stack members or folder, you can manage a stack member.

Figure 17  Stack Member Details

Run a Command

In addition to running a command from the monitoring page for a device, you can run a command directly from the topology map. The commands available depend on which device you select. So, if you select a switch, the commands you can choose from in the task pane are switch-related.

To run a command from the topology map:

1. Click a node in the map.
2. Select Actions from the task pane.
3. Locate the Device section, then select a CLI command from the Run Command menu.

Figure 18  Selecting a Command to Run on a Device