NetBrain Quick Start Guide - Enterprise Suite V4.1 

Install NetBrain Software 

Start Here

Download NetBrain Enterprise Suite software from http://www.netbraintech.com/downloads

Step 1 Run setup file to install NetBrain Gateway Server on a Windows 2003/2008 host. Activate license when prompted.

Step 2 Install Network Server on the same host machine when prompted. Optionally install more network servers into other hosts that have SNMP/CLI access to live network.

Step 3 From any Windows PC, point the web browser to http://<gateway_server_IP>/netbrain and download and install NetBrain Workstation software. For trial users, default workstation login is admin/admin.

NetBrain enterprise suite has three distinctive components:

Gateway Server (on Windows 2003/2008)

Network Server (on Windows 2003/2008)

End User Workstation (on any Windows)

Most network device uses an ACL to control the source of the SNMP polling. Make sure the IP of NetBrain Network Server is permitted by the ACL. 

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NetBrain Quick Start Guide - Enterprise Suite V4.1 

Discover Live Network

NetBrain discovery engine uses a complex algorithm to walk through the entire network hop-by-hop, starting from the seed router.

To achieve the best accuracy and speed, make sure

All login credentials for telnet/SSH and SNMP strings are entered

Network Server has SNMP access to the network devices

Protocols like CDP/LLDP/FDP is turned on

Explore other discovery options to fine tune the discovery of fragmented network.

Start Here

Step 1

Click the button to enter telnet/ssh login credentials and SNMP strings.

Step 2 Enter the IP of a seed router and then click

button

Launch network discovery from Workstation’s Start Page. 

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NetBrain Quick Start Guide - Enterprise Suite V4.1 

Visual Search

Use Visual Search function to access the vast amount of network information inside NetBrain. Besides many drill-down capabilities, user can create a dynamic map instantly simply by mousing over a matched entry.

The type of searchable data includes:

IP address

Hostname

Configure files

L2/L3 Topology

Visio diagrams or NetBrain Qmap

…

Start Here

Type a string inside the Search dialog in the Home ribbon menu, and click Search

Step 1 Mouse over any matched entry inside Search Result pane, and click the Map button

Step 2 Click the preview map to create a dynamic map on-the-fly Step 3 Click any of the map options in the preview map to create different types of map

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NetBrain Quick Start Guide - Enterprise Suite V4.1 

Dynamic Network Mapping

Dynamic map is a data-driven map that can be created instantly with point-and-click. The network data collected during discovery process is used as the foundation to guide the interactive mapping process.

Once created, NetBrain can automatically update the map based on live data collected from the network.

Refer to online training materials to learn about many other ways to create dynamic map:

Map traceroute output

Map routing table

Map data center

Map VLAN

Start Here

Click the New map button to create an empty map

   

Step 1

Drag a device entry from pane and drop it into the map

Step 2

Click the red sign of the device to launch the neighbor dialog. Select a few neighbors to be extended and press “enter” 

Step 3 Scroll the wheel of the mouse to zoom in to the dynamic map. More data shows up in the map dynamically.

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NetBrain Quick Start Guide - Enterprise Suite V4.1 

Automate Network Documentation

Leveraging the data model behind dynamic map, users can create traditional network documents such as Visio diagrams, design assessment document or inventory report in one-click. During this process, dynamic map serves as a special media to define the scope of documentation. The following dynamic map are often used:

Map of device group after dynamic search

Map of VLAN

Map of L2 Switch Group

Map of devices defined by a set of configuration files

Map of traffic flow

 

 

 

Start Here

Build a dynamic Qmap interactively with one of the automation methods provide by NetBrain.

Step 1

From Qmap’s floating menu, click the button to create a Visio diagram

 

Step 2

From Qmap’s floating menu, click the button to build a network design document in Word format.

 

Step 3 Customize the content of design document by clicking the “Advanced” button next to the document template.

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NetBrain Quick Start Guide - Enterprise Suite V4.1 

Troubleshoot Slow Applications

To significantly speed up the slow application troubleshooting, NetBrain provides three key capabilities:

Map the application flow in real time

Diagnose the performance hot-spots from the map

Discover the configuration and routing table changes

 

 

 

 

Start Here

Enter Source & Destination from Traffic Path ribbon menu

 

 

Step 1 Right click on the L3 path and select “View L2 Path…” menu item to draw a L2 traffic path

Step 2 From map’s floating menu bar, click “Monitor” button to start the real-time diagnosis

Step 3 Right-click off a performance metric in the map and Select “NetFlow” or “IP Accounting” to drill down the top-talker. (if configured)

Step 4 From the map’s floating menu, select Compare>> Compare Config & Routing to discover the changes of configuration and routing table

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NetBrain Quick Start Guide - Enterprise Suite V4.1 

Automate Change Verifications

For network changes, NetBrain can be used to document the design and verify the impact of the changes without writing custom scripts.

Start Here

Drag-and-drop a set of configuration files of routers switches and firewalls into NetBrain windows to create a dynamic map for the design. 

Step 1 Write notes in the map note pane to describe the design in more details

Step 2 Click the Benchmark button from map’s floating menu to take a snapshot of network before changes.

Optionally, users can run a set of show-commands on all devices in the map and save the data into the map.

Repeat the above process after the network changes

Step 3 Click the Compare button to compare two sets of data collected before and after change.

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NetBrain Quick Start Guide - Enterprise Suite V4.1 

Analyze Network Design

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Dynamic map can be used not only to illustrate network topology, but also to analyze and view network design, such as routing, VRF, Multicasting, VLAN and Spanning-tree.

Start Here

From the floating menu of any L3 or L2 map,

Step 1 From within a L3 map, click the menu Highlight > Routing Protocol to visualize routing design across all devices in the map

 

Step 2 From within a L2 map, click the menu Highlight > VLAN or Spanning-Tree to visualize the VLAN assignment and Spanning-Tree status

 

Step 3 Launch Design Reader by clicking the

button off the home ribbon menu. Click a device from any map and select one of the many built-in design filters to view specific network design.

 

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