Meraki Network Topology for Documentation and Non Cisco Switches' Visibility on Meraki Toplogy

[Nazeem93]

Hi ,

I need a guidance on couple of things :

1. What are the pros / cons of the Meraki Dashboard's In-built Network Topology upon comparing with LucidChart ?

2. Is it possible to have Non-Meraki / Non-Cisco Switches to be shown on Meraki's Network Topology ?

Thanks ,

Nazeem 

[RWelch]

> Is it possible to have Non-Meraki / Non-Cisco Switches to be shown on Meraki's Network Topology ?

Yes.

Non-Meraki equipment is also detected if it is one hop away (and will appear as an empty diamond); depending on the protocols supported by a non-Meraki device, the topology view may be able to discern LLDP data like model type, IP, and manufacturer. Meraki devices in a different network will be denoted by blue diamonds.

Network Topology 

[alemabrahao]

I don't know LucidChart but I can give you some impressions about Meraki.

Pros:

Integrated with Meraki Devices
Ease of Use
Device Status and Alerts

Cons:

Limited to Meraki Ecosystem
Less Customization.

Non-Meraki devices may appear with limited information, often represented as empty diamonds in the topology view.

https://documentation.meraki.com/MS/Monitoring_and_Reporting/Network_Topology

What is a Network Diagram | Lucidchart

[GreenMan]

The only key points that haven't really been made here, so far:

The topology in the Meraki Dashboard is dynamically created and (with a bit of time lag) self-updating;   if someone changes something in the topology, the topology gets updated, with no input required from the admin - provided the devices remain connected, of course.

While you can download the created topologies as .svg files, I'd be surprised if anyone uses that feature very much;   why create static content, when you can just look in the Dashboard for what's actually there?

Hence I don't think the Topology tool and Lucid Chart (or Visio, for that matter) are greatly comparable.   You couldn't use the Meraki Dashboard to create a design schematic, for example.