Discovering Your Enterprise

This section contains the following topics:

Discovery

How You Can Combine Running Classic and Continuous Discovery

Classic Discovery Multi-Homed Device Support

Discovery Classification Engine

Discovery Timestamp

How Subnet Filters Work

How Timeout Values Affect Discovery

Discovery Object Creation Rules

Device Not Discovered

Discovering Your Network Devices Continuously in Real-time Mode

Discovering Your Network Devices on Demand Using Classic Discovery

Discovering IPv6 Network Devices using Common Discovery

More information:

Discovering Your Network Devices Continuously in Real-time Mode

Discovery

Discovery is the process by which devices on the network are found and classified and then placed in the MDB as managed objects. Discovery discovers and classifies devices on Internet Protocol (IP). Classic Discovery also supports two non-IP plugins that are fully integrated:

Storage Area Network (SAN)--SAN Discovery can be started using the command line or the SAN pages in the Discovery Classic GUI or the Unicenter MCC. It discovers devices that are on a SAN and IP-enabled, as well as access points in the SAN. It automatically creates SAN Business Process Views in the 2D Map.
Internetwork Packet Exchange Protocol (IPX) Discovery--IPX Discovery can be started using its own command line (ipxbe) or by using the Discovery Classic GUI. It discovers devices located on an IPX network.

Discovery also determines if a device provides Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) data, and if so, creates a WBEM object in the device’s Unispace. The Agent Technology WorldView Gateway service locates agents running on the network objects.

Note: An MDB must exist before you can run Discovery to discover your network devices and populate the MDB.

Once defined, you can view, monitor, and manage these objects and their Management Information Base (MIB) through the 2D Map, ObjectView, and the Topology Browser. You can manage the entities they represent using Event Management, Agent Technology, and third-party manager applications.

When you install your product, you can decide which type of Discovery you want to use:

Classic Discovery is an on demand process that lets you decide which subnets you want to discover and when. You can also configure Classic Discovery to run in regular intervals, which can be used as an alternative to Continuous Discovery and ensures that your discovered environment in the MDB is always current. You can start a Classic Discovery from the Discovery Classic GUI, the Unicenter MCC, the Unicenter Browser Interface, or the command line.
Continuous Discovery is event-driven and ongoing. It employs a manager and agents that continuously scan your network in real-time mode for new devices or changes in IP addressing of existing IP devices. You can configure Continuous Discovery for optimal load balancing between the Discovery agents and the Discovery Manager. If you choose this method of discovery, you must install the Discovery agents and the Discovery Manager.
Common Discovery is a new tool used for discovery across multiple CA products. In CA NSM r11.2, you can use Common Discovery to discover devices on IPv6 networks. WorldView uses the Common Discovery Import service to poll Common Discovery and populate the MDB with IPv6 network entities. If you choose this method of discovery, you must install the WorldView Manager, MCC, and WorldView Provider. You also must install the Common Discovery component on all servers on which you want to discover IPv6 entities.

Note: We do not recommend that you run Continuous Discovery and Classic Discovery concurrently on your network. Timing issues could result in the duplication of objects and an unnecessarily heavy load on the network and the MDB. You can however, run a combination of Classic and Continuous Discovery. For more information, see How You Can Combine Running Classic and Continuous Discovery.