NetScan-IT
Version 2.0.x
Network Monitoring Tool
Index
2.
Introduction
3.
Installation
4.
Setup
a.
General Setup
i.
Monitor
ii.
Log File
iii.
Scan Type
b.
Host File Setup
c.
Alert notification
5.
Main Window
a.
Over View
b.
Tool Bar
c.
Drop Down Menus
a.
PortScan-IT
b.
Discover-IT
c.
Ping-IT
d.
Trace-IT
e. SNMP-IT
f. Graph-IT
g. TX Rate-IT
h. Script-IT
i.
Log-IT
*** NETSCAN-IT STANDARD LICENSE AGREEMENT ***
This license applies to the standard-licensed version of NetScan-IT.
You should carefully read the following terms and conditions before using this software. Unless you have a different license agreement signed by InterFaze Technologies (InterFaze) your use, distribution, or installation of this copy of NetScan-IT indicates your acceptance of this License.
If you do not agree to any of the terms of this License, then do not install, distribute or use this copy of NetScan-IT. If you paid InterFaze or an authorized InterFaze distributor for this copy individually, you may return it unused, within thirty (30) days after purchase, for a full refund of your payment.
This copy of NetScan-IT may either be used by a single person who uses the software personally on one or more computers, or installed on a single workstation used non-simultaneously by multiple people, but not both. This is not a concurrent use
license.
You may access this copy through a network, provided that you have obtained an individual NetScan-IT license for each workstation that will access NetScan-IT through the network. For instance, if 8 different workstations will access NetScan-IT on the network, each workstation must have its own NetScan-IT license, regardless of
Whether they use NetScan-IT at different times or concurrently.
THIS SOFTWARE, AND ALL ACCOMPANYING FILES, DATA AND MATERIALS, ARE DISTRIBUTED “AS IS” AND WITH NO WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. The user must assume the entire risk of using the program. THIS DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY CONSTITUTES AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THE AGREEMENT.
ANY LIABILITY OF INTERFAZE WILL BE LIMITED EXCLUSIVELY TO REFUND OF PURCHASE PRICE. IN ADDITION, IN NO EVENT SHALL IT, OR ITS PRINCIPALS, SHAREHOLDERS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AFFILIATES,
CONTRACTORS, SUBSIDIARIES, OR PARENT ORGANIZATIONS, BE LIABLE FOR ANY INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RELATING TO THE USE OF NETSCAN-IT, OR YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH INTERFAZE.
IN ADDITION, IN NO EVENT DOES INTERFAZE AUTHORIZE YOU TO USE NETSCAN-IT IN APPLICATIONS OR SYSTEMS WHERE NETSCAN-IT’S FAILURE TO PERFORM CAN REASONABLY BE EXPECTED TO RESULT IN A SIGNIFICANT PHYSICAL INJURY, OR IN LOSS OF LIFE. ANY SUCH USE BY YOU IS ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK, AND YOU AGREE TO HOLD INTERFAZE HARMLESS FROM ANY CLAIMS OR LOSSES RELATING TO SUCH UNAUTHORIZED USE.
This Agreement is the complete statement of the Agreement between the parties on the subject matter, and merges and supersedes all other or prior understandings, purchase orders, agreements and arrangements. The laws of the State of Texas shall govern this Agreement. Exclusive jurisdiction and venue for all matters relating to this Agreement shall be held in courts located in the State of Texas, and you consent to such jurisdiction and venue.
All rights of any kind in NetScan-IT which are not expressly granted in this License are entirely and exclusively reserved to and by INTERFAZE. You may not rent, lease, modify, translate, reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble or create derivative works based on NetScan-IT. You may not make access to NetScan-IT available to others
in connection with a service bureau, application service provider, or similar business, or use NetScan-IT in a business to provide file compression, decompression, or conversion services to others. There are no third party beneficiaries of any promises, obligations or representations made by INTERFAZE herein.
Congratulations on the purchase of NetScan-IT the network-monitoring tool. NetScan-IT is a network monitoring utility that scans your network testing for the presence of your network devices (i.e. routers, servers, switches....). NetScan-IT allows you to search for devices on the LAN or WAN by IP address or Host name using ICMP PING or TCP port connections. The easy-view graphical interface allows quick viewing to find where the problems are on your network and NetScan-IT can be configured to email and/or page network error notifications when devices fail to respond.
NetScan-IT is not just a monitoring tool but a host of network utilities to better assist you in performing your day-to-day network maintenance activities. With all the tools provided with NetScan-IT you will save your company a lot of money from the reduction in lost down time and give yourself some peace of mind knowing that your network is up and running.
Please read the NetScan-IT Standard License agreement before installing. NetScan-IT comes packaged on a CD that contains four files, setup.exe, NetScan.rtf, NetScan.CAB and SETUP.LST. Insert the CD into your drive and from Windows Explorer choose the drive with the NetScan-IT CD and double click the setup.exe file. Follow the prompts to install NetScan-IT. On some older systems NetScan-IT might have to upgrade some DLLs that will request you to reboot. The final install is 6.8 MB.
If you already have an older version of NetScan-IT and wish to upgrade to a newer version of NetScan-IT make a backup copy of the Host.dat file. During the install process the default Host.dat file will be overwritten. Run Microsoft Add/remove programs utility and select NetScan-IT for removal. After NetScan-IT has been removed follow the procedure above to install the new version.
** Note: The first time you run NetScan-IT you will be asked to enter your registration key provided to you by InterFaze Technologies at the time of purchase.
**Note To try NetScan-IT for 15 days free use the code ‘15daytrial’
To configure NetScan-IT click on the ‘Start’ menu and select Programs à NetScan-IT and double click on the NetScan-IT Icon. When the NetScan-IT application appears on you desktop choose the ‘Setup’ item from the NetScan-IT menu bar. This will bring up the ‘NetScan-IT Setup’ Window. After making any changes, press the ‘Apply’ button to apply changes with out saving them. Use the ‘Refresh Settings’ button to reload the saved configuration or select the ‘Save’ button to apply and save your new configuration. After all changes have been made select the ‘Exit’ button. A message box will appear stating that the ‘Reset’ button on the toolbar must be selected to reflect the new changes in the NetScan-IT Monitor window.
Note:
*** Selecting the Exit Button without selecting ‘Apply’ or ‘Save’ will exit with out making any changes.
*** Any changes to the Host list are written directly to the host file and do not require you to select ‘Apply’ or ‘Save’.
General Setup
The first tab
of the Setup windows, ‘General’, contains the setup for the ‘Monitor’
scan the ‘Log file’ and the ‘Scan type’ which selects the
protocol used to test each device.
'Monitor' Settings
Under the ‘Monitor’ section set the interval between scans, while in the continuous ‘Monitor’ mode. Enter the number of minutes to wait before consecutive scans in the ‘Time between Scans’ field. A maximum value of 1440 (= to 1 day) can be entered. If a 0 is entered the ‘Run Monitor’ mode will only run once on the Application startup and then stop.
Check the ‘Monitor on Startup’ box if you would like NetScan-IT Monitor to start running in Monitor mode whenever the NetScan-IT application is executed.
Scan Type Settings
From the 'Scan type’ section you can set the type of scan that you would like NetScan-IT to perform on all the host devices. NetScan -IT offers you the option of scanning your host with either ICMP Ping or TCP port connections. The ICMP Ping option is less processor intensive and works with most IP devices (Unless restricted by a Firewall). The TCP port connection takes more processing power but provides a higher-level test. The TCP port option is also confined to testing only 2 TCP ports. The default port settings test Telnet and Microsoft windows/NT host (Ports 135 and 23). You can change the TCP ports used in the Scan by entering a new valid port in the boxes provided. If you only desire to test for one port enter the same value in both boxes.
Log File Settings
Under the ‘Log File’ heading you can set the events you want sent to the log during a ‘Scan’. Choose from sending all events or just the Errors. NetScan-IT Monitor is set to a maximum log file size of 1000 entries. After the log file reaches maximum size the oldest entry is deleted for every new one added.
Host
File Setup
From the second tab , ‘Host List’, you can view the current Host list and host file settings.
Opening and Saving Host files
From this window you can create and select different host files. Using the four host file buttons you can Select, Open, save and edit the default Host file. The last host file selected will always be the default host file on startup. This file should contain your primary host list.
** When using Vista or Window7 be sure you save your Hostfile in a user Directory and not a system directory or you may be unable to edit properly due to security settings.
Adding a Host
To add a host, select the ‘Add Host’ button at the bottom of the window. The right side of the ‘Host File’ windows will change to the ‘Add Host’ form with two text boxes for the Host name or IP address and the Host description. The second text box can be used to enter a brief description of the Host. This field is optional and does not have to be used. This is used for identifying the Host on the main window and in the error logs along with the IP address or Host Name. The description can be up to 20 characters long. After you are finished typing the description select the ‘OK’ button. Your new Host entry will appear at the bottom of the ‘Host list’.
You can continue to add new host or select the ‘Close’ button to close the ‘Add Host’ form. For changes to be seen on the main window you must select the ‘Reset’ button on the NetScan-IT Monitor tool bar.
*Note: Only device Host names that are registered in WINS or DNS will work by entering the device's Host name
Deleing a Host
To delete a Host from the ‘Host List’ find the host in the list and select it by clicking on it once with your mouse. Multiple hosts can be selected at the same time by clicking on each host entry to be deleted. After selecting the host click on the ‘Delete Host’ button at the bottom of the setup window. For changes to be seen on the NetScan Monitor window you must select the “Reset” button on the NetScan-IT Monitor tool bar.
Error Notification
Alert notification settings
From the ‘Alert Notifications’ tab you can configure NetScan-IT Monitor for Email and/or pager notification when Network failures occur. you must have an available SMTP server to support the email notification service. To support Pager notification the PC must be equipped with a modem and a phone line.
To set the number of scans in which an error has to occur, in 'Moniror' mode, before an alert is sent enter a value in the ‘Send alert after _ consecutive scans with errors’ box. If only one alert is desired for consecutive scans with errors then check the ‘only send First Alert’ check box. This will keep NetScan-IT from sending you repeat alerts.
*Note: If the ‘only send first Alert’ box is checked, after the first alert any additional errors will not trigger an alert. To enable new alerts to be sent the error should be corrected or the host should be unchecked on the ‘NetScan-IT Monitor’ windows.
Email Notification
To configure NetScan-IT Monitor for Email notification select the ‘Enable Email Notification’ check box and enter the email address of the support person to notify (i.e. Myself@domain.com). Then enter your local SMTP server name or address and the port to use (normally port 25). You can then select the ‘Test’ button to check that the email notification works. When running NetScan-IT, in “Monitor” mode, if a Host device fails to respond in the set number of passes an email will be generated. The Email will include the last 50 lines of the log file to assist in identifying the error.
*Note: Most SPAM filters will filter out SMTP mail and you will not receive your notification. You might need to disable or configure your SPAM filter.
*Note: . If you do not have a local SMTP server several freeware version are available on line.Use directions provided with SMTP server application for proper configuration.
Pager Notification
To Configure NetScan-IT Monitor for Pager notifications select the ‘Enable Pager Notification’ check box and enter the Com port that the Modem is connected to. Then enter in the pager number of the support person to be paged. Use commas to create 1 second delays when entering Pin numbers and numeric messages (ie 7137775555,,,,1212).
To start NetScan-IT from the ‘Start’ menu select Programs à NetScan-IT and double click on the NetScan-IT Icon. You will see the following window come up.
Overview
The NetScan-IT Monitor window provides an Easy-view window of all your Host devices. Each Host in this window can be selected for scanning by checking the check mark next to the Host. If a device is unchecked it will not be scanned. The ‘Timeout after’ box allows you to set the threshold to wait for a reply before marking the Host in error and generating a network error notification.
The Text in each row will turn Yellow as they are scanned and then Green if the device responds back in the allotted time. The text will turn Red if the device fails to respond. By selecting a row and right clicking a menu will pop up with the options to Ping, Trace or Telnet to the host defined in that row.
The Status field in the upper right hand corner of the main window will display the current status of NetScan-IT Monitor.
Tool Bar
The tool bar provides easy access to almost all of NetScan-IT’s functions.
Scan Host Once: Select the First Icon to run a single scan of all the Host in the list.
Run Monitor at Set Interval: Select the second Icon to put NetScan-IT into a network-monitoring mode. Each Host will be tested at the preset interval configured in the NetScan-IT ‘Setup’ window. After each scan is complete a box will appear at the bottom of the window that tells the time remaining until the next scan. The number of scans completed will be displayed in the ‘Status’ field and the results of each host scanned will be recorded in the NetScan-IT Monitor log.
Reset Viewer: The ‘Reset’ button is used to apply any changes made in setup and to stop the ‘Monitor’ mode during a wait interval.
Select All Host: The ‘Select All’ Icon quickly checks all boxes in the Viewer window to enable all displayed Host for scanning.
Clear All Host: The ‘Clear All’ Icon quickly unchecks all boxes in the Viewer window to disable all displayed Host from scanning.
View Log File: The ‘View Log’ Icon will bring up the ‘NetScan-IT Log’ window. The log file contains the results of each Host ‘scan’ performed by NetScan-IT Monitor and the Time it was tested.
Go To Tools: The ‘Tools’ button will take you to the Netscan-IT Tool. (See NetScan-IT tools)
Exit: The ‘Exit’ button will unload the NetScan-IT application
*Note: During a
Scan some buttons are disabled to avoid scanning errors.
Drop Down Menus
The drop down menu labeled ‘Menu’ at the top of the NetScan-IT Monitor window can be used as a short cut to run all the tool bar options. The ‘Show in Tray’ menu item allows NetScan-IT to run as an icon in the system tray located in the lower Right hand corner by the system clock. After checking ‘Show in Tray’ you may select the Exit button and NetScan-IT will continue to run in the System tray. The ‘Options’ menu item enables you to open a new Hostfile or open the setup windows for configuring the Hostfile, and setting configuration and notification options available in the NetScan-It Monitor tool. The ‘Font’ Menu item changes the size of the font in the Monitor results window.
The drop down menu labeled ‘Help’ is used to access helpful information about NetScan-IT. The ‘About’ selection contains the NetScan-IT version currently running and your registration Key. The ‘Notes’ selection is available as a notepad for user notes and the ‘Users Guide’ selection contains this document, which includes the Registration agreement, Installation and running procedures.
Viewing the Log
Selecting the ‘View Log’ item from the drop down ‘Menu’ or selecting the ‘View Log’ toolbar button will bring up the ‘NetScan-IT Log’ window. The results of each ‘Scan’ will be recorded here. The detail of the log can be configured in Setup to allow all events to be recorded or just those events that show a Network error. The Entries at the top of the log windows are the most recent. The information in the log can be sorted by clicking on the column header. In order to maintain the integrity of the log, each time a scan is run the log will default back to a time based sort.
From the Pull down menus at the top of the windows you can choose to ‘Print’ or ‘Save to File’ the events in the log. The ‘Clear log’ option can be used to delete all entries and the ‘Exit’ option will close the Log window. By selecting a row with the left mouse button and then Right clicking on the log, a pop-up-menu will come up that gives the options to Ping, Telnet, or Trace to the selected host . The Graph option will plot the delay times recorded for that host. The graph is plotted by the order of the table. (See previous paragraph)
Note: to use the Graph feature the ‘log All Events to Log file’ in setup needs to be check or only network failures will be recorded. Graphing large amounts of data can be processor intensive.
Note: The Log is set to a Maximum of 2000 entries. After reaching the maximum the log works on a first in first out bases were the oldest entry is deleted to make room for new entries.
To start NetScan-IT from the ‘Start’ menu select Programs à NetScan-IT and double click on the NetScan-IT Icon. Follow the steps in the setup section if running for the first time or if you need to make any changes to the current configuration. Select which host you wish to scan by placing a check mark next to each host field in the Easy-view window. Then select either the ‘Run Once’ or ‘Run Monitor’ icon depending on if you just want to scan the ‘Host list’ once or you would like NetScan-IT to run in monitoring mode respectively.
Running
at Startup
NetScan-IT can be configured to run when your host PC starts up by placing a shortcut to the NetScan-IT.exe in your systems ‘Startup’ folder located in your ‘Start’ menu under Programs à Startup. Then check the “ ‘Run Monitor’ on Start” check box found in the NetScan-IT Setup window. (See the section Setup for more information)
Trend Graphs
To obtain 1 weeks worth of trend data on a host run NetScan-IT Monitor with only a single host and set to scan at 5 minute intervals. This will gather 7 days worth of delay times that can be graphed out using the graph function.
Using
NetScan-IT to test DNS and WINS
Tests using HostNames (i.e. myservername) will test that the name is registered in WINS, WINS is working and that the Host is responding on the network.
Tests using Fully Qualified Name (i.e. myservername.interfazeit.com) will test that DNS and/or WINS are working (If host is registered in WINS) and that the Host is responding on the network.
The best method for testing is to test all the servers by IP Address and add one Host name and one Fully qualified name to the list. The fully qualified name should preferably not be a WINS Host name so you can differentiate a WINS failure from a DNS failure. This test allows you to tell first if the host is on the network and then look to see if WINS or DNS has failed. False errors can happen if a device is not registered in WINS. Also keep in mind that if the host running NetScan-IT has secondary WINS and/or DNS settings the test might not accurately reflect if your LOCAL WINS and DNS servers are operating correctly.
NetScan-IT Tools
Select from the tabs at the top of the window to view each tool. To switch back to the NetScan-IT Monitor window select ‘Monitor' from the menu item at the top of the window. From the ‘Menu’ pull down menu you can Print, Save to file or Clear the Log-IT tools log.
PortScan-IT
The PortScan-IT tool test connectivity to selected ports on a TCP host device. To run PortScan-IT enter the 'Start Port' and 'End Port' for the range of ports you wish to scan and then either enter an IP address or Host name in the ‘Host' field or select from one in the drop-down list. Use the 'Timeout' field to set the time that PortScan-IT will wait for a response from the Host. Select the ‘Scan’ button to start the scan. The 'Help' button contains a list of the most common ports and their associated applications. The window on the Left side will show the results along with recording them under the Log-IT tab.
Discover-IT
The Discover-IT tool is used to find TCP/IP Host devices connected to the network. To Scan an Address range enter the IP address to start scanning from in the 'Start' fields and the IP address to scan to in the 'End' fields. Discover-IT can use either ICMP PING or a specified TCP port connection to look for Host on the network. Either Select the option box marked 'Use ICMP ping to Scan' or select 'Use TCP port to Scan' and enter the port you wish to use. Use the 'Timeout' field to set the time that 'Discover-IT' will wait for a response from the Host. Select the ‘Scan’ button to start the search. Discover-IT can also find the Hostname if the ‘Find Hostnames’ box is checked. This feature will require additional time to perform the DNS query. The window on the Left side will show the results along with recording them under the Log-IT tab.
Hint: You can use the TCP port selection to find all devices on your network listening on a certain port. This is a useful tool to find all devices that support Telnet, SNMP …
Ping-IT
Ping-IT is a Ping utility that checks the connectivity of a Host, resolves Host names, and ARPs for Host Interface MAC address. To run Ping-IT select a host from the ‘Host’ field drop-down list or enter a Host name or IP address in the ‘Host' field and then Select the 'Ping' button to start the test. Use the 'Timeout' field to set the time that Ping-IT will wait for a response from the Host. The window on the Left side will show the results along with recording them under the Log-IT tab.
Note: ARPing across a router running ‘Proxy ARP’ will give the router MAC since the router knows that the target address is on another subnet that it can reach, it will reply with its own MAC address to the requesting Host.
Trace-IT
Trace-IT is a utility that traces the path a packet has to travel to reach a host. To run Trace-IT select a host from the ‘Host’ field drop-down list or enter a Host name or IP address in the ‘Host' field and then Select the 'Trace' button to start the test. Trace-IT can also find the Hostnames if the ‘Find Hostnames’ box is checked. This feature will require additional time to perform the DNS query. The window on the Left side will show the results along with recording them under the Log-IT tab.
SNMP-IT
SNMP-IT is a tool for viewing Simple Network Management Protocol values. The SNMP tool lets you view network status information from a remote host that supports SNMP. To run SNMP-IT select a host from the ‘Host’ field drop-down list or enter a Host name or IP address. Enter a valid ‘Community string’ (SNMP Password) for the remote device and select or enter an OID to retrieve. Select the 'Get Current SNMP', ‘Get Next 10 SNMP’ or ‘Get ALL’ buttons to retrieve the data.
To view SNMP details for a device
interface select and ‘get’ the IFTable (1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.2). Then select an
interface from the SNMP log viewer and right clicking to bring up the ‘IF
Info’ button.
Note: The ‘Get ALL’ feature will retrieve up to 1000 entries. Select a MIB further down the tree for smaller subset .
Graph-IT
The Graph-IT tool is used to graph out the real-time bandwidth utilization of a selected interface and the CPU utilization of the device using the IF-MIB standards on a remote SNMP device. To us this tool, enter the ‘Host’ and ‘Community string’ for the device and select the ‘GetIF’ button to retrieve the IFTable interfaces. Then select an interface from the ‘Select Interfaces’ selector. Choose the update ‘Interval’ and select the ‘RUN’ button to start the Graph. After selecting Run it will take up to 3 minutes, depending on the interval, to gather the interface information and start logging. This tool is only meant for short test and can only display 10 minutes to 5 hours depending on the interval (300 data points).
Note
o
While using this tool the SNMP-IT tool will not
be available
o
This is the raw count of bits per second sent in
or out of the interface and can exceed circuit speed on short intervals do to
buffering.
o
Rounding errors and MIB management errors can
cause missed intervals or errors in graphed data
o
The maximum Y value is 400% so values greater
than 400% will not be accurately represented.
o
The data represented in the Graph is based on
the configured speed of the interface (i.e. Cisco Bandwidth command) if the
Graph information appears to be higher or lower than expected check the
configuration of the interface
o This feature is only available for use with IFTable MIBs (i.e. 1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.2)
Hint
: Run tool on near side device to avoid adding
additional traffic to the link you are watching.
TX Rate-IT
TX Rate-IT is a transmission
rate tool that can be used to measure the rate at which files can be
transferred between two PCs across the network. This tool will show the true transfer rate,
taking into account processor speed, hard drive read/write, windowing, circuit
speed and latency. TX Rate-IT allows you to choose the file to use in the test
so you can very the size and type of file. This is very useful when testing
compression or IP acceleration boxes. You will need permission to read and
write to the selected directories to perform this test. If you are using a
firewall you may need to disable it before you can run this tool.
To run TX Rate-IT inter the ‘Local Directory’ and the ‘Remote Share’ to run the test between. Select the file size range you are looking for and select the ‘Get Files’ button. Select one of the files from the list and select the ‘Get TX Rate’ button. The results will also be recording under the Log-IT tab.
Note: Different size files will yield different
results. For instance transferring a very small file across a large bandwidth
will factor in more Processor and Harddrive time than circuit latency. For the
best results choose a fill that is at least double the bandwidth of the
circuit.
Script-IT
Script-IT is a utility that provides the
ability to send text scripts or commands to a selected list of host devices. Script-IT
can be used as a telnet utility by selecting or entering a host in the ‘Host’
field. Select the ‘Connect’ Button to create a connection to the
selected host. After connecting commands can be entered in the results
textbox.. The ‘Disconnect’ button will then release the host connection.
To send a script to the selected host select the ‘Script Host’ button.
Select the ‘Script All” button to send the script to a list of selected
host. Select the host from the host list that you wish to send the script to
and then select the ‘Run Script’ button. (To create a Host list please
see the Setup section on creating a Host file). The ‘Status’ window will
report the status of each connection attempted during the ‘Script All’
function and all connections attempts will be recorded on the ‘Log-IT’ screen
Note: The log screen will only record attempts to run the script. If the authentication fails the log will still report that the script was run. Individual devises should be manually checked for success.
Log-IT
Log-IT is the logging window for all the other tools. You can choose to 'Print', 'Save to file' or 'Clear' the log using the pull down ‘Menu’ at the top of the NetScan-IT Tools Window. Right clicking on the log with your mouse will bring up a pop-up-menu that gives the options to Ping, Telnet, or Trace to the selected host. After reaching the maximum the log works on a first in first out bases were the oldest entry is deleted to make room for new entries.
Troubleshooting
For answers
to problems or questions see the InterFaze-IT website at www.InterFazeIT.com or send your
questions to Help@InterFazeIT.com
