Overview
Once you've added all the devices to the map, you can arrange them to
suit your ideas about the network.
Default Appearance of Devices and Networks
By default, InterMapper displays devices as rectangles
in its map. These devices are connected by links - straight lines
of differing thickness to indicate the kind of link - to networks,
which are represented as ovals.
Possible Arrangement Approaches
You can use InterMapper's layout tools to arrange your maps in ways that
are most useful to you.
One strategy:
- Find one or more clusters of related items
and move them close together.
- Once you have created clusters, you can move them
to different parts of the map.
For example, an Ethernet or FDDI backbone with its attached routers
might make a good cluster. Similarly, a central router or switch with
its attached networks might serve as a cluster.
- If networks or ports are not important for a map,
hide them from the Interfaces Window.
- See Using
the Arrange Commands for more information about using the commands
from the Format menu.
- For other information related to arranging your maps,
see Arranging Tips.
Enhancing Your Map's Appearance
InterMapper has many tools for enhancing your map's appearance. These include:
- Setting Custom Icons:
InterMapper comes with a set of icons derived from Cisco's Icon Library.
Use these industry standard icons, or import your own PNG, GIF, or JPEG
images. For more information, see Custom Icons.
- Setting a Map Background:
You can use a graphic as a "background" to the map. The devices
being monitored will appear above this background image. For more information
on using background images, see Background
Images.
- Adding text objects: You
can add text objects your map to label groups of objects, or simply to provide
information to the viewer. For more information, see Text...
in the Insert menu reference topic.
- Importing Device Descriptions: InterMapper
allows you to import descriptions of the devices on a map directly from
a tab-delimited file. This simplifies the creation of a new map, and makes
it easy to add new devices as your network grows. For more information,
see Importing
Data Into Maps.
- Setting the Geographic Coordinates of the
Map: InterMapper allows you to indicate the latitude and longitude for benchmarks - known positions on the map.
If, for example, you are using an actual geographic map as a background
image, you can use geographic coordinates to place a device in the correct
location on the map. For more information, see Using
Geographic Coordinates.
Setting a Map Background
Create a new map, and then save it. You can scan your own map, or obtain
an image that covers the right area from one of the sites listed in Using
Geographic Coordinates. InterMapper can use PNG, GIF, or JPEG image files
as backgrounds for maps. You can obtain suitable images by scanning or creating
your own maps, or use one of the many map sites listed in Sources
of Maps.
To add a background image to a map, simply drag the image file into the map
window. It will be added to the map and become visible.
Setting the Geographic Coordinates of a Map
If you use a geographic map for a background, you can associate specific
points on the map with geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude) by
adding benchmarks.
For more information, see Using
Geographic Coordinates. Once you have specified the coordinates, you can
specify geographic coordinates for devices as you import them to the map,
and they are automatically placed at the correct location.