Mapping a remote mine’s real network — without agents or a site visit
A titanium mineral sands producer in southern Africa deployed Rebasoft, delivered with a South African partner, to replace spreadsheet-based network knowledge with a discovered, verified view of its corporate and process control networks.
- 44 of 92
- documented switches could not be reached
- 637
- edge interfaces mapped
- 92
- connections to unmonitored devices
- 36%
- of switch ports actually in use
The challenge
- Network knowledge sat with individuals, not systems, which slowed fault-finding and recovery.
- Inventory lived in spreadsheets and had never been checked against the live network.
- A remote operation: everything had to be done over VPN, with no Rebasoft engineers on site.
Our approach
- A single agentless Rebasoft virtual appliance, deployed over VPN.
- Seeded from the client’s own corporate and SCADA address ranges and device lists.
- SNMP switch discovery, neighbour mapping and sFlow traffic, then 119 Wi-Fi access points onboarded.
- Sites organised by mine area for reporting.
What discovery revealed
Inventory that didn’t match reality
44 of 92 listed switches were unreachable, with 7 further discrepancies against the live network.
An unknown network edge
92 connections to devices nobody monitored: potential paths around the main firewall.
Idle capacity
Only 36% of switch ports were in use, leaving hardware that could be redeployed rather than replaced.
Hidden performance faults
105 interfaces with errors, plus half-duplex links, quietly slowing applications.
An inconsistent Wi-Fi estate
119 access points across 9 models and 5 firmware levels, with around 23 dropping more than 1% of packets.
Unknown and unsupported endpoints
Many unclassified devices, unsupported Windows versions and gaps in anti-malware coverage.
The outcome: the mine’s first authoritative picture of its network, measured against its own documentation, with a prioritised list of fixes.
Why it matters for mining
Remote-ready
One VM over VPN. No agents and no site visit needed.
IT and OT in one view
Corporate and process control networks discovered from a single platform.
An inventory you can trust
The foundation for CMDB, OT security and change control.