How Messy Is YOUR Cabling Closet?

Even if you're the most anal-retentive of IT pros and cable your closets perfectly and accurately the first time, they aren't going to stay that way. Hardware comes and goes, equipment get replaced, connectors break, and your closet becomes a technology nightmare. How about a low-cost tool that lets you remotely discover the users and devices connected to each port on your Ethernet switches, along with detailed device and port configuration information, such as connected MAC address, IP address, Hostname, port speed, duplex, and so on?

SolarWinds' Switch Port Mapper has traditionally been one of the most popular tools in the company's Engineer’s Toolset, and now it's available as a standalone tool. Here are some of the tool's key features:

· Remotely discover devices connected to each port on Ethernet switches

· Obtain detailed connected device information for each port

· Enable/disable ports with a single click

· Multi-vendor device support for any manageable switch

· Identify port speed and duplex mismatches

· Multiple export options, including CSV, XML, and HTML

Entertainingly, to coincide with the launch, the company is hosting a Cabling Closet Contest for IT administrators to submit photos of their wiring closet mayhem (through March 9). The messiest, cleanest, and most creative closet picture will receive "an abundance of Geeky Gear"! Contest participants must create a video or take a photo of their cabling masterpiece, then post it on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, their blog or website, or SolarWinds’ online community, thwack. Finally, participants submit their photo or video link using SolarWinds’ official contest form, or simply attach their photo or video directly to the form.

SolarWinds will post the submissions on its Facebook page, and announce the winner of the best Clean, Catastrophic, and Creative cabling jobs on March 16 when SolarWinds’ Head Geek, Josh Stephens, reviews all the entries. The contest is open only to legal residents of the United States. For more details regarding the contest instructions, and terms and conditions, please visit SolarWinds’ Facebook page.

Switch Port Mapper costs $195 and is available for download on the SolarWinds’ website. Watch the tool in action: