The network topology dialog

You can inspect network topology for one or more networks by selecting the networks in the network list and then clicking the topology button.

This will launch a new window that contains a topology diagram of the network(s) selected.

In this window you have various options to modify and export the topology diagram.

Layout

You can choose between different layouts in the Layout drop-down:

Connections

This layout focuses on the layer 1 connections between devices.

Locations

This layout arranges devices grouped by physical location and sub-location, which are identified by dotted lines. For example, cabinets are shown inside of rooms, rooms inside of buildings -- assuming that the location tree in INVENTORY -> LOCATIONS is structured accordingly.

Hierarchy

This layout arranges devices in a hierarchy where sensors and actuators are placed at the bottom, automation devices above that lowest layer, and everything else on top of automation devices.

Networks

This layout is useful if you want to investigate the connections between different networks.

Organic

This layout can be useful for inspecting the overall structure of very complex networks.

Suppressing diagram details

OT network topology diagrams can be very complex, and at some point you may want to reduce the level of detail to not miss what you are actually looking for. This can be done using the Hide drop-down, where you can hide the following items:

Not connected

Sometimes not all devices in a network have a known layer-1-connectivity. Such devices are then shown as isolated nodes in a topology diagram. If you are not interested in these nodes, select hide not connected and they will disappear.

Endpoints

If you only want to see network devices in a topology diagram, select hide endpoints.

Adjacent networks

OTbase can show you networks other than you have selected that are connected to your selection. These adjacent networks are then displayed as ovals. Since including adjacent networks in a topology diagram often makes the diagram much more complex, this option is enabled by default.

The Edit Switch

Depending on your access rights you may be able to manually insert new devices and add new connections between devices by toggling the Edit switch.

Adding new devices and connections is explained in a separate chapter in this documentation.

Asset detail reveal on zoom

When you zoom in, you will see additional asset details,  such as device name, vendor, and firmware version.

Navigating the topology diagram

You can navigate a topology diagram by using the mouse wheel (zoom) and by panning the drawing. Note that you can also navigate using the overview pane in the upper left corner, where you can select the visible scope of the diagram using the bottom left corner of the orange rectangle.

Pointing to a node will highlight the connections to neighbor nodes and will also pop up a tooltip with additional information about that node.

Search for nodes

In order to search for particular nodes that you are interested in you can enter text in the search field. That text can be an IP address, vendor name, model name, DNS name, device description, or parts thereof. Any node matching the text will then be highlighted by a blue rectangle. In the following example we are searching for a particular IP address. Note that only the last three octets of the address are used as a search term.

Exporting a topology diagram

There are various options for exporting a topology diagram available in the upper right corner of the topology window:

• SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics)
• VSDX (Microsoft Visio)
• GraphML.

The following example shows our exported diagram in Visio.