IP/MAC Addresses Report

The IP/MAC Addresses Report provides visibility into how Discovery most recently identified a scanned device. To be successfully identified, or "sighted", a discovered device must be configured to make its unique hardware (MAC) or network (IP) address visible to WhatsUp Gold. Additionally, data available in this report can provide additional information about connectivity and the use of the sighting data to create the Auto Layout on the map view. It can be a powerful diagnostic tool for investigating scenarios such as MAC address spoofing and stale ARP cache detection, for example.

You may notice this report is essentially an updated version of the IP/MAC Address Finder tool found in previous versions of WhatsUp Gold. The application of an upgraded look and feel, the addition of several new data points, as well as a few other enhancements, ensures greater usability and user experience.

To customize report data to better fit your needs:

• Use the controls at the upper-left corner of the interface to select a device or device group, or alternately select a predefined subnet, in order to limit the report data displayed.
• Hover your mouse over any column header, then click the icon that appears to display a drop-down menu to further refine results and customize the report by choosing which data points appear in the report.
  • Hover over Columns, then select the applicable column or columns you'd like to see on the IP/MAC Addresses Report.
  • Use the same drop-down menu to sort report data and apply user-defined, column-specific filters.
• Click the Sighting Type hyperlink to reveal a drop-down list of sighting types from which to select. Selecting a specific sighting type from this list filters the report to display only devices whose IP and/or MAC address were obtained using that type. The options available are:
  • Address Resolution Protocol. The IP and/or MAC address was determined by a request to or a response from the device using ARP protocol which maps MAC to IP address for the subnet and assists with look-up of other machines on the network.
  • Cisco Discovery Protocol Identifier. The IP and/or MAC address was automatically provided by the device based on a specific identifier or MIB object using CDP protocol which requires every device to provide a unique identifier. This can be an IP, MAC address, or hostname the device claims.
  • Cisco Discovery Protocol. The IP and/or MAC address was automatically provided by the device using CDP protocol which assists routing packets in the network.
  • Designated Bridge. The IP and/or MAC address was determined by the use of a specific switch or router which directs network traffic toward the root bridge on a particular section of the network.
  • Designated Root. The IP and/or MAC address was determined by the use of the central switch within the network using bridge port information collected from switches and routers for map calculations.
  • Device Attribute. The IP and/or MAC address was determined by an attribute previously assigned to the device by the user or system.
  • Failover. The IP and/or MAC address was determined during failover from a primary to a backup instance of WhatsUp Gold.
  • Forwarding Database. The IP and/or MAC address was collected from the forward database table used by a router or switch which indicates where data packets should be forwarded using one of several possible protocols (e.g., SNMP or SSH).
  • Lightweight AP. The IP and/or MAC address was determined by a connection with the device through a lightweight access point and the configuration information available.
  • Link Layer Discovery Protocol Identifier. The IP and/or MAC address was automatically provided by the device based on a specific identifier or MIB object using LLDP protocol which requires every device to provide a unique identifier. This can be either an IP or MAC address the device claims.
  • Link Layer Discovery Protocol. The IP and/or MAC address was automatically provided by the device using LLDP protocol which assists routing packets in the network.
  • Match. The IP and/or MAC address of the device matched a defined profiling condition, attribute, or rule in WhatsUp Gold. This information comes by directly reading information from the device and is generally not directly configured by the user.
  • None. If no specific sighting type is displayed, it could mean that the device is inactive or no recent activity was detected. It's also possible the device was added to WhatsUp Gold manually.
  • Owner. The IP and/or MAC address of the device was determined by information collected from the device itself (e.g., information available from the device's interface table). The device claims the address it's advertising to the network.
  • Pollable. The IP and/or MAC address of the device was found in the WhatsUp Gold configuration table for interfaces. This is often referred to as the Network Interface Table. The Network Interface Table is configurable by the user and provides the set of addresses that monitors can use for polling the device.
  • Resource. The IP and/or MAC address of the device was collected while reading information from API base services (e.g., AWS or Azure).
  • Route. The IP and/or MAC address of the device was collected while reading routing information about the device.
  • Storage. The IP and/or MAC address of the device was collected during examination of a storage protocol (e.g., SMIS).
  • Virtual Center. The IP and/or MAC address of the device was collected/provided by a virtual center (e.g., VMware or vCenter).
  • Virtual Guest. The IP and/or MAC address of the device was collected/provided by a virtual guest running on a host system (e.g., VMware or Hyper-V).
  • Virtual Host. The IP and/or MAC address of the device was collected/provided by a virtual host (e.g., Hyper-V or ESXi).
  • Wireless Client. The IP and/or MAC address of the device was collected from the access point client information.