Determining the physical destination of a network link by identifying a port of a network node connected to the link

摘要

A system for use in a computer network for identifying the physical destination of a network link from the source of the link using an identifier transmitted between a source node and a destination node of the link. A network port on the source node is identified 302 and a communications protocol packet 303 comprising a physical port discovery (PPD) identifier 304 is sent via the identified port 305. The destination node inspects received packets for a PPD identifier 402 and, if present, outputs an indication that the identifier has been received including an identification of the port via which it was received 404. The indication may comprise a visual or audible signal. The PPD identifier may be formed using a protocol type (PTYPE) value carried in an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) packet (see figure 2). The invention determines the destination of a network cable without having to physically trace the cable.