MoisdTech
asked on
MAC Address count
Hopefully this is a quick and simple question. I need to monitor the number of MAC addresses crossing our WAN (over 254, there is an extra charge). Does anyone have a simple way to constantly monitor the number of MAC addresses going through a network? I could use some sniffer like wireshark but that would take significant time for export and searching. There must be an easier method. BTW this connection covers several subnets, so something in promisc mode just grabbing the MAC addresses it what I am looking for.
Bill Bach
Instead of worrying about it, why not just circumvent it? Run all traffic through a NAT/Firewall or even a VPN device. Then, they will all show up as a single MAC address. The MAC address of the network packet is always regenerated by the nearest downstream router, so adding a simple routing device will also limit the MAC addresses down to 1. It should not matter how many IP addresses you have, or how many subnets you have, either.
ASKER
We are doing that to a point, however we have six different school districts running over this WAN. Each is supposed to be natting their addresses, however some are adding things that should not be there. The boss wants to ensure that we are not even close to the max number of addresses.
ASKER
What I really need is a method to pull an ARP table off of an HP Procurve and dump it into a database, maybe mysql or something similar.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
membership
Create a free account to see this answer
Signing up is free and takes 30 seconds. No credit card required.
ASKER
I you are correct, I was looking for something more automated, I think I will look cron and snmpwalk, thanks