About discovery

Configure discovery by setting the parameters that govern how the discovery is performed.

About types of discovery
Different terms are used to describe network discovery, depending on what is being discovered and how the discovery has been configured. You can run discoveries, rediscoveries, and full and partial discoveries.
Scopes
Define the zones of the network (that is, subnet ranges) that you want to include in the discovery, and the zones that you want to exclude. The areas of the network to be included in the discovery process, or excluded from the discovery process are collectively known as the discovery scope.
Seeds
Configure seeds to specify the locations from which to begin discovering devices. Discovery seeds can be IP addresses, or subnet addresses.
Device access
Configure device access by specifying SNMP community strings and Telnet parameters so that the system can access network devices.
Agents
Use discovery agents to retrieve information about devices on the network. Select the right agents for your discovery depending on your network type.
Device filters
Use prediscovery filters to increase the efficiency of discovery.
SNMP interface filtering
You can filter the SNMP data retrieved from devices by the discovery process by configuring SNMP interface filters. You can configure SNMP interface filters only on the command line.
Domain Name System
Configure DNS to enable the discovery to access DNS services that are used to perform domain name lookups.
Network address translation
Configure data for NAT gateways in your network.
Advanced settings
Configure advanced discovery settings to increase the speed of the discovery, and balance the speed with the load on the server. Generally, a faster discovery results in more memory usage on the server. Advanced settings control features of the discovery such as concurrent processes and timeouts.
Context-sensitive discovery
If you need to discover devices that support multiple contexts, you must run a context-sensitive discovery. For example, a device that uses separate SNMP contexts to provide access to its virtual routers. Context-sensitive discovery ensures correct representation of context-accessible virtual devices. Always check that your particular device type is supported for discovery.
Helpers
The helpers are specialized applications that retrieve information from the network on demand. The default helper configuration is sufficient for most networks. However, you might decide to alter the configuration for several reasons.
Collectors
Collectors are like agents, except they do not discover information from devices, but collect it from Element Management Systems (EMSs). Enable and configure the right collectors for your discovery if you use an EMS.
Specialized discoveries
You can configure the system to perform more complex discoveries, such as Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) and Network Address Translation (NAT) discovery.

Parent topic: Discovering the network