Priscilla, I've found that CDP works great for identifying transit Ethernet switches since CDP details IP addresses, and suprisingly picks up more that just Cisco equipment. I've noticed HP switches providing CDP, but most of the networks I work with are primarily Cisco. One of the biggest benefits of CDP is that it's really easy to remotely automate and parse, allowing automated network topology generation.
Granted STP works more globally, but doesn't have any way of showing an associated IP address (most of my scripts have been geared towards troubleshooting, where most often it's valuable to Telnet to the next "hop" and get it's perspective). I suppose STP contains a bridge ID that can be cross-referenced to an IP address, assuming a central database exists. To be honest I haven't done anything too elaborate with STP scripting since CDP has worked out so well, except on a couple of occasions where I found platforms/IOSs where CDP isn't enabled by default... I had plans of extending my scripts with STP to identify root bridge placement and identify L2 transit paths. Perhaps someday I'll actually have the free time to do it! :) - Tom Priscilla Oppenheimer wrote: >> >> Since switches do transparent bridging, how would you know that they are >> there? It's hard to see something that is transparent. Perhaps there's some >> spanning-tree info you could gather that would illuminate the logical >> topology and the path frames would take. It would only be for that LAN though. >> >> Of course, if you meant L3 switches, then his program already works with >> those probably. >> >> Thoughts? I'm just thinking out loud here. >> >> The program sounds great! Congratulations on the accomplishment and good >> luck with its marketing. >> >> Priscilla Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=69809&t=69738 -------------------------------------------------- FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Report misconduct and Nondisclosure violations to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
