About netVizQ: What are the differences between netViz standard and netViz Professional?A: - The same underlying engine drives both versions, but netViz Professional has more powerful features. To follow are the features you'll find only in netViz Professional: Graph Layout - (netViz version 5.0) Applies mathematical algorithms to groups of selected nodes to minimize link crossing and provide graphical information about the relationships between them. Choose from six algorithms including hierarchical, orthogonal and spring. Task Scheduler - (netViz version 5.0) Allows for the automatic refresh of projects from linked databases and regular auto save. ODBC Connectivity Provides a drag-and-drop interface to link your netViz objects to external databases. Refresh your netViz projects from the databases or write back to the databases from your projects. Previewer An additional window on a project providing further information. Rest the cursor on a node and see a preview of the diagram one level down. Rest the cursor on a link and see the two diagrams at the link's endpoints. When looking at netViz objects in a traditional table view, rest the cursor on a record and see a preview of the diagram in which the object is located. PowerPoint Export With a single command, create PowerPoint slides of the entire netViz project. The slides are hyperlinked for easy navigation within PowerPoint. Create Data-Driven Graphics The visual override facility allows netViz graphics' appearance to be altered based upon changes in their embedded data values (data-driven graphics are viewable in both versions of netViz, but can be created only in netViz Pro). As an example a PC node's fill colour could be changed to reflect it's operating system. NDK - (NetViz Developers Kit) Allows netViz to be customised to the users environment. Visio Import Import existing Visio diagrams into netViz. Web Publishing - Using WebViewPresent netViz diagrams and all their underlying data in a wed enabled format. (Note: netViz Web-publishing server software must be purchased separately). Q: - What advantage does netViz 3D offer?A: - The newest addition to the netViz product line, netViz 3D contains all the features in netViz 5.0 Professional, plus: 3D views Display complex systems in three dimensions. Draw the network in 2D then choose the diagrams to include in a 3D view and netViz will create a three dimensional scene that includes all the diagrams with nodes and interconnections intact. The 3D scenes can be fully customised and a catalogue containing hundreds of 3D models of office, network and computer equipment to use in 3D renderings is included. Exports to .rib and .tif To render 3D images into realistic, lifelike graphics suitable for publishing or high-quality presentations. Using OpenGL to create true three-dimensional objects and system models, netViz 3D is a ground-breaking tool that can show your network the way it exists in the real world as a single, coherent structure made of interconnected, data-rich components. Q: - Can I view diagrams from other netViz versions in the latest version?NetViz is only forwards compatible. Therefore you cannot open version 6 diagrams in version 5. There is no option to save a diagram as an earlier version of netViz. You can however open version 5 diagrams in version 6. Version 3D and version 5 files are fully interchangeable, however the 3D view option is lost if 3D diagrams are opened in version 5. Q: - How does netViz compare with Visio and PowerPoint for network diagrams and documentation?Visio Microsoft's Visio is primarily a drawing package, netViz is a documentation program that is designed to visualise and depict large information systems. NetViz and Visio serve very different purposes solving different problems. netViz offers three dimensional information by providing the relationship between an object, its data and other objects. netViz assembles this information into visual pictures, a tabular view to the data, and a connectivity view illustrating relationships between objects. These views are not available within a drawing program. netViz allows searching by object type or attributed label. As an example; when upgrading from Windows NT to 2000, the hardware needs to change. The search will produce a data table, which can be sorted and viewed as required, of all affected machines. This search is not available within a drawing package. netViz is all about relationships. The hierarchy illustrates a structure. Each diagram has objects with data and connections to other diagrams. These relationships are what differentiate drawings from documentation. With netViz there is the option to publish to the web, so that the information created can be viewed by non netViz users, Visio offers no such facility. Visio can be used for network drawing, but when it comes to documenting large amounts of information within those drawings netViz is the tool to consider. PowerPoint PowerPoint is a presentation package. It draws flat diagrams, but the hierarchical and database information is even more difficult to annotate into PowerPoint that it is into Visio. If a presentation format is required, netViz files can be exported to PowerPoint. This presentation will again be flat diagrams, however the vital information quick searching and equipment positioning will still be available in the netViz diagram. Q: - Can netViz do auto discovery?A: - As netViz is designed primarily as a network documentation tool as opposed to a drawing tool, the emphasis is put on accuracy. A full auto discovery tool will never be completely accurate, which is why Kenson suggests that the documentation is performed by hand and strict change control procedures are put in place to ensure accuracy. Kenson offer a documentation service. If auto-discovery is required, there are many tools on the market that will generate an ODBC database with their results. This database can then easily be imported into netViz. Please contact Kenson staff for recommendations of external auto discovery tools. Q: - Can netViz run from a server?A: - The licensing on netViz is CPU based. The netViz.exe files can be run from the server but Kenson do not recommend this. As netViz is a graphic based tool, it will generate a large amount of traffic on the network, constantly retrieving files from the server. This increased traffic will slow both the network and the PC on which netViz is running. Kenson do suggest that the project files are stored on the server, so that multiple users may access the information. Q: - What are the system requirements for netViz?A: - netViz will run on Windows 95/98, Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows XP. For netViz Professional and Standard, we recommend at least a Pentium processor, 32 megabytes of RAM and 40 megabytes of free hard-disk space. For netViz 3D, we recommend at least 128 Mbytes of RAM and an OpenGL-compliant 3D graphics card. The Documentation projectQ: - What options are available to me before I start my project?A: - Kenson advise that all netViz users take training prior to commencing a documentation project. A number of options are available. Standard Training Kenson run two courses every month in conjunction with netViz. These take place in Cirencester. netViz - network documentation is a 3 day introduction to the tool and best practices for network documentation. Designing databases for use with netViz is 1-day course teaching the basics of designing SQL based databases for use with netViz. A web-publishing day is available on demand.
Customised Training All of Kenson's courses can be run on customers site, these can then be customised to each customers requirements from the tool. Duration is dependent on these requirements; each course can take up to 8 students.
Q: - Can Kenson assist me with my project?A: - As well as offering training Kenson can offer a complete documentation service. If you had picked up a software package about law, would you try to defend yourself in court? NO? Many people realise that documentation is a new skill, which in their busy schedule they do not have time to learn. Kenson can offer you professional advice, to achieve expert documentation. Kenson’s assistance can be provided at a variety of levels depending on customer requirements. Exact needs will always be discussed and a service will be offered to match. Three examples are as follows. Documentation project introduction This option consists of the services of one of Kenson’s senior documentation consultants. The option is normally taken out in conjunction with training. The consultant will review current work, help to set up documentation templates and advise on change control procedures. In this option the customer will still perform the bulk of the documentation. Project implementation After an initial project definition, Kenson would leave you to gather the information that you require. This information will then be analysed, and professional documentation will be produced. Full documentation project Kenson will liase with each customer to co-ordinate and run the documentation of their entire site. Kenson have had a large amount of experience in projects such as these including the documentation of several large banks. The pricing and deliverables of this service are dependant on needs. Q: - Why would I need training and consultancy?A: - NetViz is not a hard tool to master, however network documentation can be a minefield of problems waiting for the unsuspecting user. The training will guide new users through this minefield, allowing smooth use of all the features of the tool and giving a guide on how to begin documentation. Many larger companies find that once the training is over, they need more specific direction. In this case Kenson’s documentation experts are available to make specific templates and suggestions for the project. Even once the project is off the ground and the technical details are in place, network documentation can still be a time consuming job. Kenson are available to manage and run the entire project, freeing up valuable resource for other jobs. Q: - What help can Kenson give me convincing my boss and colleagues?A: - Kenson have netViz literature and demo disks that show the value of the tool. Kenson staff will be happy post this information. There is also a wealth of information available on the netViz web site at www.netViz.com When looking at larger documentation projects Kenson can provide examples of work and reference sites that you can contact.
Kenson staff will always be happy to meet up with customers to discuss the requirements that you have. Q: - How will netViz documentation benefit my business?A: - In business today the network is critical; down time can cost companies millions of pounds. Network documentation gives you end-to-end visualisation of your network, without visualisation a problem that should be quick to solve can take hours. In these precious hours the company cannot do business and the IT team cannot manage the network, as they are fire fighting the smaller issues. Lets look at a company with netViz documentation in place. When a problem is reported the engineers can quickly trace the path of the problem, go directly to that problem and begin fixing it. With quality documentation, upgrading the network is an easy task. The search facility on netViz allows them to find out the status of each PC, they can then be assessed if they are of a high enough specification to upgrade. Software licenses can also be tracked. NetViz’s ODBC compliance and embedded databases can save 80% of the time it will take to document their network using other tools. Service providers can use netViz to add to their level of service. Read only versions of netViz are available these can be given to the customer, while your company retains master control. Database ConnectivityQ: - What databases can netViz connect to?A: - NetViz can connect to any ODBC compliant databases. Included with the tool are the drivers for Access, Dbase, Excel, Fox pro, Oracle, and SQL server. However any ODBC driver can be imported for connectivity, examples are Lotus Notes and MYSQL for Linux. As many management systems use standard database management interfaces netViz can also connect to these, examples are SMS using SQL server and netScout's management range using Access and Oracle. Q: - Can I use netViz to create an external database?A: - The ODBC compliance is a two-way function, so all of the databases listed in the above question can be created from netViz. NetViz can also export project data into a .csv or .txt format. Q: - How do I keep my netViz files and my databases synchronized?A: - NetViz professional has the capability to read from and write to the external databases. Therefore a simple refresh will keep files up to date. Introduced in netViz 5 professional is an automatic refresh facility. The task manager allows automatic set times to refresh the database, save projects or refresh the web server. Information DisseminationQ: - What facilities are available for the dissemination of netViz documentation?A: - There are a variety of ways that people can view created documentation. The options listed below will allow non-netViz users to view the information on a read only basis. Publish to HTML This service is included with the netViz software and will allow publishing of flat netViz diagrams. The only information available on a node is that displayed on the diagram. This can be published to an Intranet or the Internet. PowerPoint export With a single command, the entire project is exported to PowerPoint. Diagrams appear as a PowerPoint presentation, with navigation buttons automatically placed so it is easy to travel up and down the project hierarchy. This service is also included within the professional netViz tool. Project Navigator The Project Navigator is in essence a read only version of netViz, delivering a full feature set including:
A single user licence for netViz Navigator costs £100. Publishing to the Web. See next question for options. Q: What are the options for publishing to the Web.WebView StandardNetViz produce a web publishing server, which allows full read only projects to be published to an intranet / internet. One command generates a Web-server database from the netViz documentation. People accessing this graphical database through a Web browser not only see the drawings, but can also navigate the project's vertical hierarchy and view all embedded data for every object. Web publishing supports SQL databases on Windows 95, 98 and NT servers. Features are as follows ·
Web View Standard (Single user) £4,450 Web View Professional All of the features within webView standard can be found within webView professional as well as:
Web View Professional (single licence) £8,450 Q- How does webView Standard differ from webView Pro?A: - With added functionality web publisher has now become part of the web server range of netViz products. Now known as webView standard It now offers the following enhancements.
Q: - How do the benefits justify the cost of the webView Pro?A: - The webView Pro offers exactly the same views of the information as the webView Standard. The benefit is from a security point of view. WebView allows selective access to the diagrams by adding a password and user group system. This allows larger organisations to offer secure access for both internal and external customers to their private diagrams. Purchasing NetVizQ: - Where can I purchase netViz?A: - Kenson Network Engineering is the sole British distributor of netViz. Kenson have been their leading distributor for the past 8 years. Contact sales on 01285 647930, or see more information about Kenson on www.kenson.co.uk. As well as the netViz tool Kenson offers training, technical support and a complete documentation service. Q: - How much does netViz cost?A: - netViz is offered on a single CPU licence. As explained above there are various viewing options, and pricing per unit does decrease with multiple purchases. Please contact Kenson for latest prices. Return to NetViz details Copyright Kenson Network Engineering
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