> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.docusnap.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Topology, IP Networks and IP Segments

> What each of the three maps under Maps shows, and how the shared toolbar and legend work.

Under *Maps* you open three maps: *Topology*, *IP Networks* and *IP
Segments*. All three draw the same captured devices, but for three different
questions — the physical connections, where the devices sit in the segments,
and the distributor framework behind them.

## Topology

*Topology* shows every captured device and the connections between them —
with bandwidth and ports. No segment orders the picture here; the connection
alone does that.

Each device appears as one of three forms:

| Form | What it shows |
| - | - |
| Stack (*Switch stack*) | several physical units that manage themselves as one device — one row per unit, each with its own port usage |
| Infrastructure | switch or firewall, with the number of used ports as a ratio (*Ports in use*) |
| Endpoint | every other device, without a port count |

A firewall additionally carries an indented frame that marks it as a policy
boundary. If the map does not recognize a firewall, it shows it as an
ordinary device without that frame.

Bandwidth colors every connection by speed class, fixed on. The port names
of a connection appear as soon as the pointer rests on it. Several
connections between the same two devices appear combined as one line with a
number.

If a device carries ports, its detail area shows a section on port usage,
and a button there opens a second column beside it: one tile per port, grouped
by port group, each port marked *Active* or *Inactive*. A port without a
fixed number sits at the end of its group, with a lightning bolt instead of
a digit.

## IP Networks

*IP Networks* shows which devices sit in which segment: every captured
device at the IPv4 segments it holds an address in. A *Segment* is an IPv4
network address in CIDR notation.

Each segment carries a kind, shown in its detail panel and derived from its
address and the number of distributors on it:

| Kind | Meaning |
| - | - |
| *Public* | public addresses, not private per RFC 1918 — sits at the top of the picture, at the edge to the internet |
| *Transit network* | a private segment that couples sites or levels and carries no endpoints |
| *Access network* | the segments the endpoints sit in |

Not to be confused with a distributor's *role* (policy boundary or
forwarding, see *IP Segments*): both rows sit side by side in the same
detail panel but mean different things.

To keep the picture manageable, the map combines:

* A segment with only its own devices is combined into a single **entry** —
  the network address in the header, one row per device, grouped by *device
  type*.
* A redundancy pair of distributors appears as one *Unit*, a framed group.
* Pure coupling segments on a single distributor are combined into one node
  from two upward.

<Note>
  A device with no address in a known segment is **counted but not drawn**.
</Note>

## IP Segments

*IP Segments* shows only the framework: which *distributors* connect the
segments. A *distributor* is a device with addresses in more than one
segment — router, firewall or L3 switch. Only distributors are nodes here,
the segments a distributor serves appear as connections between them. Every
other device is contained in its segment and does not appear as a node of
its own.

Here too *Public* sits at the top of the picture, at the edge to the
internet. A firewall acts as a policy boundary; every other distributor
— router, L3 switch — connects segments without a rule. The summaries from
*IP Networks* — the combined entry and the *Unit* — do not apply here, because
no device sits in a single segment alone.

<Note>
  Neither *IP Networks* nor *IP Segments* checks whether two segments overlap
  or whether an address is assigned twice. Do not rely on these maps to find
  IP conflicts.
</Note>

## The shared toolbar

All three maps carry the same toolbar.

| Control | Purpose |
| - | - |
| *Arrangement* | *Organic* (default) or *Hierarchical*. Under *Hierarchical* you choose the reference device the levels are built from via *Starting From*; without a choice it reads *Automatic* |
| *Display* | the map's optional details. In *Topology*, *Group Similar Devices* combines endpoints with nothing of their own into one shared entry |
| Location filter | hides devices by location; a segment stays visible as long as one of its devices remains. In *IP Networks*, grouping by *device type*, hiding individual device types (end devices only; distributors, firewalls and the members of a *Unit* stay in the picture) and hiding the address labels are added. Hiding individual segments is available in both maps |
| Search | highlights matches; the match count sits in the search field itself |
| *Preset* | see below |

A *Preset* saves a set of settings — arrangement, Starting From, location
filter and the checkmarks of *Display* — but not the search text. It applies
either to you alone or, with the *Everyone* badge, to every user of the data
source; without the right to save for everyone, that choice stays visible
but locked. If the map deviates from the applied preset, the button carries
a dot. Without write permission in the area, the buttons for saving,
editing, overwriting and deleting presets are missing; you can still apply
a preset. *Reset settings* returns arrangement, Starting From, location filter,
legend and *Display* to the state without remembered settings.

## The legend

The legend is divided into named sections. The explanation of a row, such
as how a *Switch stack* is drawn, appears as soon as the pointer rests on the row.

In *Topology*, one section lists the forms — *Switch*,
*Switch stack*, *Several devices grouped* and *Access point and other
devices* — and another lists
the bandwidth classes: below 1 Gbit/s, 1 to under 10 Gbit/s, 10 Gbit/s and
above, and not reported.

## Related

Moving around a map, selecting in it and exporting it work the same in all
three — see [Understanding Maps](/docs/en/documents/plans). The data for the
maps is produced by scanning, see
[Scanning Fundamentals](/docs/en/scan/understanding-scanning).


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