The Nortel Discovery Protocol (NDP) formerly called SynOptics Network Management Protocol (SONMP) is a data link layer (Layer 2) network protocol for topology discovery of Nortel devices. It’s very similar to the Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) if only just a little simpler.
I’ve used the Nortel Discovery Protocol on a number of occasions to help document and troubleshoot problems within a network. While Nortel’s Java Device Manager (GUI) provides support for displaying the topology table it leaves some very vital information out, specifically the remote card and port from where the connection is originating. You can however, view that information from the CLI interface of Nortel’s Ethernet Switches (ES) and Ethernet Routing Switches (ERS).
Here’s an example of the topology table from an Ethernet Routing Switch 5530 stack which is Split MultiLink Trunk (SMLT) connected to a cluster pair of Ethernet Routing Switch 8600s;
5530-24TFD#show autotopology nmm-table LSlot RSlot LPort IP Addr Seg ID MAC Addr Chassis Type BT LS CS RPort ----- --------------- -------- ------------ ---------------- -- --- ---- ----- 0/ 0 10.102.255.65 0x000000 00159BEACC00 5530-24TFD 12 Yes HTBT NA 1/23 10.102.1.5 0x000406 0004387070E8 Passport 8610 12 Yes HTBT 4/ 6 2/47 10.102.1.6 0x000406 000FCDF1E0E8 Passport 8610 12 Yes HTBT 4/ 6
You can see from the information above that ports 1/23 and 2/47 on the ERS 5530 connect to port 4/6 on the ERS 8600 Core A (10.102.1.5) and port 4/6 on the ERS 8600 Core B (10.102.1.6).
Looking at one of the core ERS 8600 switches we can see the following topology table;
ERS8600:5# show sys topology ================================================================================ Topology Table ================================================================================ Local Rem Port IpAddress SegmentId MacAddress ChassisType BT LS CS Port -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0/0 10.102.1.5 0x000000 000438707000 ERS8610 12 Yes HtBt 0/0 1/1 10.102.1.6 0x000101 000fcdf1e000 ERS8610 12 Yes HtBt 1/1 1/5 10.102.255.19 0x00012f 001e7e7b0c01 mBayStack4500-48GT-PWR 12 Yes HtBt 1/47 1/6 10.102.255.35 0x000130 000cf73c25c1 mBayStack470 12 Yes HtBt 1/48 1/7 10.102.255.60 0x00012f 0014c733e401 mBayStack5520-48T-PWR 12 Yes HtBt 1/47 2/20 10.102.1.9 0x000201 001d427b7040 ERS8610 12 Yes HtBt 2/1 4/1 10.102.1.6 0x000401 000fcdf1e0c0 ERS8610 12 Yes HtBt 4/1 4/4 10.102.255.45 0x000119 0011f9abc541 mBayStack470-24T 12 Yes HtBt 1/25 4/6 10.102.255.65 0x000117 00159beacc00 mERS5530-24TFD 12 Yes HtBt 1/23 4/7 10.102.255.75 0x000132 000e40eb4031 Passport1648 12 Yes HtBt 1/50 9/1 10.102.255.25 0x000119 00802deb6150 mBayStack450 12 Yes HtBt 1/25
You can see from this table that there are quite a few edge/closet switches connected to this specific ERS 8600 and you can quickly and easily identify which ports they are connected to.
Cheers!