IntraVUE™
IntraVUE™ was developed to fill a gap between existing IT networking tools and what is needed to support Ethernet applications on the plant floor. The underlying concept was to create an effective diagnostic tool that was simple and easy to use. The features and capabilities center on the requirement to manage groups of distributed Ethernet nodes.
Auto-Discovery and Auto-mapping
The ability to know where and how devices are connected to the network has been a challenge to anyone installing or troubleshooting devices on a common Ethernet network. IntraVUE™ provides an accurate view by automatic discovery and mapping of all TCP/IP devices on the network. Many vendors claim to have Auto-Discovery, but the additional ability to Automatically Map is unique.
IntraVUE™’s powerful mapping feature provides an accurate picture of the exact interconnections between devices in minutes. With port-to-port connection information, the ability to troubleshoot connection and device problems is greatly simplified. No longer is there the need to pull on wires to find which port on the switch a device is connected to! Line colors change to indicate proper communication, thresholds exceeded, or loss of communications.
Simple and Easy Configuration and Navigation
Configuration is accomplished by simply letting IntraVUE™ know which devices you want to monitor. It only takes minutes and consists of putting the IP address ranges into a table. They can be as broad as several subnets, or as narrow as a single device. Several ranges can be added to get the most accurate discovery for the job at hand. This flexibility allows the user to skip over known equipment that is not of interest at the time. Multiple IP ranges can be added and IntraVUE™ will search through routers if necessary to find exactly where the devices reside. There is no need to configure complex gateway information since IntraVUE™ performs this task automatically. Once the IP ranges are configured, IntraVUE™ will do the rest!
Capture the Exact Configuration of the Network
It is sometimes more useful to collect information and take it back to the office for analysis. IntraVUE™’s backup and restore feature will allow the capture and storing of network maps and information into separate user named files. These files can be archived to document the network changes that have occurred over time. The tool allows the user to easily capture any network which the portable computer can connect to. The ability to review the network information off-line provides a powerful and efficient means of analyzing the current configuration, or planning for future network expansion. IntraVUE™ will also highlight changes that have occurred on the network. Devices added, moved or disconnected are easily identified, providing a more complete understanding of the current network architecture.
Documents your Equipment and Configurations
The import and export features of IntraVUE™ allow network and device data to be displayed in a variety of status reports. Device inventory with IP address, MAC address, name and connection information can be compiled in common spreadsheet formats. IntraVUE™ eliminates the tedious task of manually checking to ensure that the wiring has not been changed due to accidental disconnects or new additions to the network. This can eliminate those hand drawn sketches usually stuck to the side of the electrical enclosures. Time consuming Monthly or Quarterly “as-is” network analysis and documentation can be reduced to less than an hour in most cases with accuracy much greater than manual inspection and logging.
Powerful Failed Device Recovery
The ability to quickly and accurately replace a failed device is another important consideration. This can become complicated in situations where many devices are required to have fixed addresses; a necessity when several systems are accessing data from network devices. To set a fixed IP address, one would need to connect a serial cable or a point-to-point Ethernet connection using a Boot-P server. Both cases require manual intervention and present the possibility of an error in device addressing.
Software called Auto-IP from Network Vision, Inc. essentially acts in much the same way as a DHCP server, with all of the ease of use but specifically targeting fixed IP devices. If a device fails, the technician is only required to obtain the replacement unit, plug in the network cable and then power up the unit. The device will send out a request for an address and the Auto-IP software will detect the request, identify the location where the request is coming from and set the appropriate address. This eliminates potential errors and reduces the Mean-Time-To-Repair (MTTR).
