Wake on Local Area Network (LAN), commonly referenced as Wake on LAN, is a computer networking standard that aids in the remote booting of wired and wireless networks. Also known as remote wake up, wake up on LAN, wake on wireless LAN, or simply WOL, the Wake on LAN technology helps network admins optimize energy usage, and ensure that network resources are readily available.
Since remote Wake on LAN standards are met by most device manufactures, network admins widely used Wake On LAN Application to provide uninterrupted IT resource availability. In this page, we'll look into,
Several factors, such as not using an appropriate BIOS or network card, the internal architecture of the target machine, and sometimes the reliability of the OS and router functionality, can hinder the functionality of a Wake on LAN tool. Some of the common hurdles faced by network admins when implementing Wake on LAN include:
Hardware issues: By default, on triggering wake on LAN, machines are expected to wake up from a low-powered state, that is, machines that are powered off but are still connected to a power source. Hardware issues, such as scenarios like those mentioned above, might wake up computers from sleep instead of from a fully off state, when a Wake on LAN message is transmitted to it. This impedes the efficiency of the Wake on LAN tool, causing network booting issues.
Security threats: The wake on LAN Magic packets are transmitted to the target device by the Wake on LAN tool, through the data link layer. Without required security measures in place, the Wake-on-LAN trigger packets can be manipulated by any attacker or rogue device in the same network. If the target computer launches from a Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) server on receiving the Wake on LAN tool's message, it could allow the computer to start up from an attacker’s boot image, bypassing any security and providing unauthorized access to local disks over the network. This makes deploying wake-on-LAN in an organizational network prone to security threats.
To avoid these network mishaps, an effective software tool like OpUtils Wake-on-LAN should be used.
OpUtils' Wake on LAN tool enables network admins to wake up machines remotely on demand. The WOL tool solution can be used to boot either a single Wake On Lan device or multiple devices simultaneously. Network admins have the option to send the Wake on LAN (WoL) packets to a specific system, or broadcast the WoL packets to whole subnets using the WoL tool. The status and the last wake-up time are automatically updated in the database.
OpUtils' Wake on LAN solution eases the use of WoL technology with its auto discovery and rediscovery of network devices. Equipped with real-time network scanning tools, the Wake on LAN utility discovers and displays the MAC addresses in your network to help network admins wake up a specific target machine. Also, OpUtils’ tree-based hierarchy of subnets helps network admins efficiently broadcast WoL messages to the subnets in which the target machine(s) are present.
Wake-on-LAN features:
In a large network with hundreds of devices to be managed, it is impractical to manually boot up or shut down devices. To overcome this hurdle, most network admins rely on Wake on LAN. Enabling network admins to remotely boot up their enterprise network devices, OpUtils' Wake on LAN tool saves the footwork of manual booting. Monitoring the device's up or down statuses from OpUtils' web console, network admins can easily boot up or shut down devices with a click.
Booting network devices becomes more difficult if the devices are physically distributed across different floors, or blocks within the organization. OpUtils' Wake on LAN tool enables network admins to gain a centralized view of their network devices. It provides a summarized view of various tasks, along with the status of execution.
Booting network devices becomes more difficult if the devices are physically distributed across different floors or blocks within the organization. OpUtils' Wake on LAN tool enables network admins to gain a centralized view of their network devices. It provides a summarized view of various tasks, along with the status of execution.
To simplify this process, OpUtils' Wake on LAN tool comes with a Scheduler that enables you to create different schedules for devices that require periodic booting and powering down. Once created, OpUtils' Wake on LAN tool automatically triggers these wake-up schedules, thereby booting up and powering down the target devices. Network admins can also choose to wake-up a device on demand, by simply clicking the button next to the managed device in the OpUtils' web console.
OpUtils’ Wake on LAN tool enables network admins to create multiple groups containing different computers, and these groups can be scheduled to run at different times. There is no restriction on the number of groups that can be created. The status of individual tasks will be provided as a summary under Groups in Networking Tools by the Wake on LAN tool. The status of individual computers will also be available in the Status column under Devices in Networking Tools.
OpUtils’ IP Address Manager automates network discovery with flexible discovery and rediscovery options, including discovery from spreadsheets, router, and servers. The IP address manager extracts the real-time status of your network address space.
OpUtils’ Wake on LAN tool provides you with a view of all the MAC addresses in the network. You can use this list to trigger wake-up calls to network devices. This helps you avoid maintaining separate records of MAC addresses, which is required of other standalone WoL tools. This also enables you to boot multiple devices remotely, providing significant savings in time and effort.
Prerequisites to use Wake on LAN in your network
OpUtils offers features like port scanner, advanced IP scanner, IP address tracker, network scanner, and 30+ network tools such as IP tools, along with Wake on LAN tool. These features give you full-fledged network resource monitoring along with complete visibility into your IPs and switch ports.
If you are new to OpUtils, schedule a live demo with a product expert. We would be pleased to uncover all the features OpUtils has to offer, as well as answer your questions. Want to try-out OpUtils hands-on? Download a 30-day free trial and get started with OpUtils in as little as an hour! OpUtils seamlessly integrates in to your existing network environment without you having to make many changes to your network infrastructure.
