Comments | gently_snoozing: Tech question for the clever people out there.

gently_snoozing

Tech question for the clever people out there.

Jun 08, 2006 14:43

‘Twould appear that we have some budding entrepreneurs at our main building. So the question for all the smart people out there is simply this, if a laptop is docked and then removed would there be a record of this dotting around on a server or the network in some fashion? Answers on a postcard and a pint to someone who can help ( Read more... )

Comments 8

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gently_snoozing June 8 2006, 14:05:48 UTC

Docking station

tenebrosity June 8 2006, 14:05:21 UTC

oh my.
oops.

gently_snoozing June 8 2006, 14:06:07 UTC

Oops indeed, decided on your Arabic garb yet?

tenebrosity June 8 2006, 14:23:47 UTC

nope but a friend says she has two possible tops i could borrow so that may be a start.

noidd June 8 2006, 14:25:14 UTC

Yes. MAC address.

The MAC address is specific to the machine. Using the CAM tables in your network switch you will be able to trace the machine to a network port. From the network port you should be able to track it to the desk.

gently_snoozing June 8 2006, 14:51:00 UTC

Would this till work if the laptop had been powered down? And just in case I'm being thick here, what you're saying from my understanding is that every time someone docks/ undocks their laptop this recorded with a date time stamp somewhere?

2g2l June 8 2006, 15:12:50 UTC

The docking station will have a built-in network card that will be plugged into the network, via network points in the wall which in turn plug into a specific port on a "switch" device.

The network card in the docking station has a unique serial number called a MAC address. The switch will record which MAC address attached to that port and when.

If the PC is turned on, the docking station will attempt to connect to the network and the switch will record it. If the lappy isn't powered on, chances are the docking station won't attach to the network.

prgp June 8 2006, 15:28:57 UTC

Esp. if this is connecting to your network via DHCP (assuming you have access to the logs) there should be some trace of the machine and it's MAC.

The MAC is *usually* unique, but it is possible to alter it - but really unless this guy is 'any good' (which I doubt) he will not have done so ...

Basically, this is the sort of stuff your friendly (*cough*) BOFH should be able to do in his sleep (assuming the setup is good) ...