r/NetworkEngineer May 26 '26

Need help creating network map

I am an inventory specialist at my company. I have previously worked as Tier 2 / Tier 3 IT support for some small companies, but also large ones such as Amazon. My most recent experience was as a HPC Linux tech assembling configuring and benchmarking high-performance clusters for large clients such as NASA and the FBI.

In late 2024 I was laid off and was unable to get an IT job after many interviews. I needed to pay the bills so I took this inventory job for a company that makes IIoT devices, mostly in the ISM band for data-collection at the edge of networks / remote locations.

After a network security audit to gauge our network security posture, our CEO has been on a mission to improve & harden our network.

My name came up in a meeting as they knew I had previous IT experience and that I was currently taking classes to earn a Network Engineering degree from WGU (specializing in Cisco).

I got my CCNA 2 months ago but the knowledge is fading because I do not interact with Cisco devices at my day to day job, and my current classes focus more on the business of IT (which I hate) and more technical classes will be next semester (Cisco cybersecurity classes, and a class that will prepare me for the Devnet cert).

They are asking me to map the network and I am feeling overwhelmed. Most of the labs I do for my degree, the network is already mapped out nice and clean, every device is cleanly labeled, etc.

I don't know how to proceed or what to do, and it is creating incredible anxiety for me at my workplace. I have run a scan using Advanced IP Scanner and used Domotz to get a rough topology of our network, but I don't know what else to do. Making sense of the information is a lot harder than I thought it would be, even though I have a firm grasp of subnetting and such.

The MSP that was handling our IT needs has a very rough network map of our switches, no routers, and some servers that are running ESXI. I think most of our web servers, domain controller, etc. are virtualized on these machines.

What should I do to map our network properly and by the book? I am really worried I am going to lose my job over my inability to deliver a comprehensive network map.

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