Read the Network Map

What the network map is

Monitoring → Network Maps draws each customer site's network for you. Nobody has to draw it by hand. The map is built from:

• Plenix agents: every computer and server running the agent, with its addresses and live status;
• scanner agents, which sweep their local network and find everything else: switches, routers, access points, printers, cameras, phones and devices with no agent;
• printers you manage in Plenix;
• switches and routers that answer SNMP, which report their neighbours and which device is plugged into which port. This turns a flat list of devices into the real cabled layout;
• IPAM, so documented subnets and VLANs appear as network segments.

The map refreshes every time discovery runs. For how discovery works, see Network discovery and scanner agents.

Plan: Business and above (the Monitoring module).

The Network Maps hub

The hub opens on a grid of sites, one card per customer with devices, plus Unassigned for devices not linked to a customer. Each card shows how many devices, subnets and scanners the site has, how many devices are online, and how many findings need attention. Click a card to open that site's map.

The numbers across the top are all clickable:

Tile	Shows	Opens
Network health	A score out of 100 and how many critical findings there are	The Insights tab
Sites	How many sites have devices	The site grid
Devices	Devices on the map, and how many are online	RMM
Scanners online	Scanner agents connected right now	The Discovery tab
Subnets in IPAM	Documented and discovered subnets	IPAM
Unidentified devices	Devices Plenix couldn't identify	The Insights tab

The other tabs:

• Insights: problems found across every network. See Insights below.
• Discovery: your scanner agents, a Scan now button for each, and the discovery settings.
• Saved views: map layouts you've saved.

Reading a site map

Each device is a card showing its name, IP address, role icon and a status dot:

Dot	Meaning
Green	Online and healthy
Amber	Online with a warning (for example missing updates or no security)
Red	Online with a critical problem (for example an active threat)
Grey	Offline, or not seen recently

Devices sit inside their subnet. Subnets hang off the gateway, and the gateway connects to the Internet. Switches and routers that report their neighbours are joined by the actual links between them.

Layers

Use the chips above the map to turn each kind of connection on or off:

Layer	Shows
WAN	Internet connections
Uplinks	Each subnet's route to the gateway
Subnets	Which devices share a subnet
LLDP	Cabled links reported by switches and routers
Switch ports	Which device is plugged into which switch port
Discovery	Which scanner found each device (off by default)

Finding things

• Search by name, IP address, MAC address or vendor. Matching devices light up and the rest of the map fades.
• Filter by role (for example only printers or only switches), by online/offline, by health, or by an open port (for example 3389 to find everything with remote desktop open).
• Click a device in the list of matches to jump to it on the map.

Moving around

• Drag to pan, scroll to zoom, and use the mini-map in the corner to jump around big networks.
• Drag devices to rearrange them. Reset layout puts everything back.
• Full screen hides the rest of the page.

The device panel

Click any device to open its panel. What it shows depends on the device:

• Details: IP and MAC address, vendor, hostname, open ports, when it was first and last seen, and which scanner found it.
• Identity: operating system, hardware and the logged-in user, for devices with the agent.
• Network role: what the device is (router, switch, printer, camera and so on). Plenix works this out automatically. If it's wrong, pick the right role here. Your choice always wins over automatic detection and AI.
• Plenix policies: the automation and RMM policies that apply to the device.
• Patching: the patch policy, and how many updates are missing (critical updates are called out).
• Software: installed software, and any with known high or critical vulnerabilities.
• Security: whether the device is protected by Plenix Security, and any active threats.
• Supplies: toner levels, for printers.
• IP address management: the IPAM record for the address, with a link to it.
• Open tickets raised against the device.
• Device groups the device belongs to.

Each section links to the page where you manage it. From the panel you can also open the device in RMM and start a network scan from a scanner agent.

Insights

Plenix checks every network and lists what needs attention, most serious first. Findings include:

• subnets that are nearly full, and IP address conflicts;
• devices that couldn't be identified;
• computers without the Plenix agent;
• devices not covered by a patch policy, or missing critical updates;
• devices without Plenix Security, or with active threats;
• software with high or critical vulnerabilities;
• risky services visible on the network, such as Telnet, FTP and VNC, and RDP or file sharing on unmanaged devices;
• switches and routers not responding, agents offline for over 14 days, and devices no longer seen;
• networks in use that aren't in IPAM;
• automatic discovery that hasn't run when it should have.

Click a finding to see the devices affected, and follow its link to fix it.

Saved views

Arranged a map just how you like it? Click Save view and give it a name. The positions and the layers you had turned on are saved. Open saved views from the Saved views tab on the hub. Update view saves changes to the view you have open.

Who can do what

• Anyone with access to Network Maps can view the maps, insights and saved views for the customers they can see.
• Technicians and administrators can start scans, update IPAM, change a device's role and save views.
• Only administrators can change the discovery settings.

Related

• Network discovery and scanner agents
• How to manage IP addresses (IPAM)
• AI network review