SmartSwitch

SmartSwitch is the SC//AcuVigil™ application for managing the network switches at a site. It gives centralized control of switch port configuration, device registration and monitoring, firewall policy assignment, VLAN segmentation, and Power over Ethernet, so that day-to-day switch work can be done from the SC//AcuVigil dashboard rather than from each switch's own web interface.

SmartSwitch extends the Device Manager application rather than running as a standalone application. Device Manager is installed automatically on every Scale Computing™ edge security device (ESD) and handles device detection, registration, and policy. SmartSwitch adds management of the site's layer-two managed switches. When SmartSwitch is installed and the ESD has managed switches, the Devices tab is titled SmartSwitch instead of Device Manager.

Where to find it

To see this application's reports and company-wide settings for all your sites, select SmartSwitch from the Apps menu. The page is titled SmartSwitch.

Features

• Register, pre-register, and monitor the devices seen on the site's network
• Assign a firewall policy to each registered device
• View every managed switch at the site as a port-level diagram of its front panel
• Inspect per-port link status, speed, segment, and the devices detected on each port
• Lock ports, or lock the specific MAC addresses seen on a port
• Enable or disable Power over Ethernet per port, which allows remote power cycling of PoE-powered devices
• Restart a managed switch remotely
• Review the site's VLAN segmentation in one table
• Add switches to management and maintain their SNMP credentials and configuration templates

SmartSwitch and Device Manager

Both names refer to the same tab, the Devices tab. The tab shows SmartSwitch when SmartSwitch is installed and the site's ESD has managed switches. Otherwise, it shows Device Manager.

The Devices and Policies menus come from Device Manager and behave the same either way. SmartSwitch adds the Switches and Settings menus, so they don't appear on a site that shows Device Manager.

To use the switch management features, a site needs SmartSwitch installed and at least one managed switch.

Where to find SmartSwitch

SmartSwitch is the Devices tab of a site's Site Status page.

1. Log in to SC//AcuVigil and open the site.
2. Open the Site Status page.
3. Click the Devices tab.

The application title, subtitle, and version appear at the top left, and the menu is at the top right. The version is worth noting before you troubleshoot, because some features are gated on it.

The SmartSwitch menus

Devices is the default menu. The table below is a summary; for the full field-level reference of every menu, column, and form control, see Devices tab.

Scale Computing Managed

A switch is labeled Scale Computing Managed on the Switches menu when the platform is permitted to write changes to it. The label comes from the Scale Computing Managed checkbox on the Settings menu.

Without it, SmartSwitch only monitors the switch: the switch and its ports are still visible, but changes aren't sent to it. Devices on a switch that isn't managed also aren't flagged as being on the wrong segment.

SmartSwitch also keeps a backup of each managed switch's configuration, saving a new copy whenever the configuration changes. If a switch is set up to send port up or down notifications (SNMP traps) to the ESD, port status in the dashboard updates within about a minute.

Supported switches

SmartSwitch communicates with a switch over SNMP, or over HTTP where SNMP is not available. Support is not limited to a single vendor: the application ships vendor-specific handling for NETGEAR, Cisco, and Zyxel switches, and a separate status view for Phybridge devices.

NETGEAR has the broadest coverage, across the GS1xx, GS3xx, and GS7xx series, including the GS108Tv2, GS108Tv3, GS110TP, GS324T, GS716Tv2, GS716Tv3, GS724Tv4, GS728TP, GS728TPv2, GS748Tv5, and GS752TPv2. Zyxel coverage includes the GS1920-24 and XGS1930-52. Phybridge is represented by the PL-048.

Version numbering

The version shown beneath the application title, such as Ver.R63Cb5, is a build code rather than a release number. The first character encodes the build year, running one letter per year with O skipped: P is 2024, Q is 2025, and R is 2026. The next two characters encode the month and day. Ver.R63Cb5 is therefore a build from 3 June 2026.

This matters because two features are gated on the version, and the comparison is a plain string comparison, so the letter ordering above is exactly what decides the outcome.

A site below the relevant threshold runs SmartSwitch normally but without that control, and the interface gives no explanation for its absence. A site on a P build is running a 2024 version and meets neither threshold, so it shows neither the PoE column nor the Add Unregistered Switches section. If a control described in the documentation is missing, check the version first.

Installation

Unlike Device Manager, which is installed automatically, SmartSwitch is installed per site. Scale Computing installs and configures it for you as part of the managed service.

1. At the site, install one or more layer-two managed switches.
2. Contact Scale Computing Support to have SmartSwitch installed and the switches configured. Open a ticket in the SC//AcuVigil dashboard, email team@scalecomputing.com, or call (512) 687-7401.
3. At the site, connect devices to the correct ports for the segments you have specified.
4. Confirm that the switch and connected devices are operating correctly.

Scale Computing registers each switch with SmartSwitch and sets the SNMP credentials and configuration template it uses on the Settings menu.

Requirements

• Scale Computing ESD: MG3, SG1v1, SG2v1, XG1v1, or VG
• SmartSwitch is installed on the site's ESD.
• The site's ESD has at least one managed switch. On a site without one, the Devices tab shows Device Manager, and the Switches and Settings menus don't appear.
• The switch is registered under the Settings menu with a valid SNMP credential and configuration template.
• To make any change to a switch, rather than only view it, the switch has Scale Computing Managed selected.
• PoE control has two further requirements, and both must be met. The site must be on SmartSwitch version R41000 or later, and the switch must report PoE over SNMP. SmartSwitch discovers the second at runtime by probing the switch's PoE power and PoE status OIDs, so a switch that does not answer them shows no PoE controls even though it is managed and the version is new enough. See Power over Ethernet (PoE) in SmartSwitch.

Available reports

SmartSwitch registers six reports, which can be run on demand or scheduled for delivery by email in the same way as other SC//AcuVigil application reports.

The two exception reports are the ones to reach for when checking a site's health, since they list only switches or ports in an error condition rather than everything. The Unlocked Switch Port Report is the audit counterpart, listing ports where neither port locking nor MAC locking is in effect.

Common tasks