Network monitor which polls devices and builds a correlation table between IP addresses, MAC addresses and device ID's in a DHCP network

摘要

In a computer network of devices, at least some of the devices (i.e. the DHCP devices) have a static (e.g. MAC) address which does not change over time and a dynamic (e.g. IP) address which may change over time. A method for mapping the static address and dynamic address for the devices comprises polling said devices using said IP addresses and during said polling determining the MAC addresses of the devices, and providing a table of corresponding static and dynamic addresses, said method including repeating the steps of the method at intervals. Using the method of the invention, it is possible, when entering a particular conversation in a database, to access the IP addresses, to determine which is the current DHCP device that address maps to, and assign the conversation to that device and store it in the database assigned to that device. Therefore, for each DHCP device, one can store a history of the conversations or traffic involved in that device.