Create Network Diagrams Automatically

With LOGINventory, you can create network diagrams automatically, generating live topology maps from agentless data collected across your network. As powerful network diagram software, it offers extensive customization options and can visually highlight changes – such as when a device is moved to a different switch port. The key advantage is that all connections are established automatically based on your computers’ and switches’ inventory data, so you never have to manually link individual shapes. LOGINventory is the network diagram tool that streamlines your infrastructure visualization and management.

What can be represented in a network diagram?

In a network diagram (also referred to as a network plan or topology), discovered devices are shown as nodes, including switch-to-switch connections, switch-to-physical-device connections (e.g., Windows clients, printers, UPS units, hosts, etc.), and virtual machines on their hosts. To enhance clarity, you can hide specific device types. All network diagrams can be exported. When creating a new network plan, you can also specify which devices to include – such as those on a particular floor or at a specific location.

How does automatic creation of network diagrams work?

LOGINventory, as a leading network diagram software, uses multiple methods within its network inventory process to gather detailed hardware data across your organization. Through agentless SNMP scanning, it discovers switches and reads their MAC address tables, which list the MAC addresses reachable on each port. When several switches are identified, LOGINventory’s algorithm automatically calculates the inter-switch connections, effectively creating a network diagram of your switching infrastructure.

Moreover, because LOGINventory inventories all networked devices – not just switches – it can map each MAC address to its corresponding device details (such as Windows clients, printers, or hosts). This complete mapping allows the network diagram tool to generate a comprehensive, up-to-date network topology without any manual linking of shapes.

The network diagram software also lets you adjust switch representations down to the port level, so you can see at a glance which device is connected to, say, the third port from the top on the left.

You can overlay floor plans as background images. Because shapes can be freely moved on the canvas and their positions saved, you can document the actual physical layout of switches, servers, and cabling directly on a room plan.

You can even add your own shapes and stencils and connect them to other nodes. This allows you to include non-scanned devices, giving you a complete, up-to-date network diagram every time.

Customize Auto-Generated Network Diagrams

With LOGINventory’s network diagram tool, you can tailor every aspect of an automatically generated network diagram. Choose which details to display: name, IP address, device type, operating system, model, location, room number, last boot date, missing OS updates, and many more. LOGINventory collects over 1,000 data points from a typical Windows client (all of which you can extend), and you can use any of these values to label shapes or connections – or add your own custom fields and descriptions. If something changes in your infrastructure (for example, an OS is updated), the change is immediately reflected in the network diagram: your diagrams are never static but always linked to live inventory data, visualizing the current topology.

Automatic Visualization of Changes in Network Diagrams

In saved network diagrams, connection changes are automatically highlighted. When a device is moved to a different port or when, for example, the link between a switch and a laptop is disconnected, the network diagram tool visually emphasizes that update and logs it in the change list. The same applies to devices newly added to the diagram – any hardware discovered during the network inventory is immediately indicated.

Frequently Asked Questions about Network Diagrams