23.1 Network discovery

NNMi collects information about the elements in your network (such as devices, nodes, and their components) that are added to the database. In NNMi, inventory discovery means searching for new nodes, while Layer 2 discovery means connectivity modeling.

Upon startup, NNM in its default configuration used its own loopback address as a seed to start automatic discovery of the directly connected network (based on its own IP address and subnet mask). In contrast, NNMi allows the administrator to exert control from the start. For NNMi auto-discovery, you define the discovery area based on an IP address range before you perform discovery, and you specify at least one seed device (usually a router).

The following figure shows in the center the tools, files, and commands used by NNMi for configuring discovery, surrounded by the NNM tools, files, and commands.

Figure 23‒1: Elements for configuring discovery

Organization of this section

• 23.1.1 Key concepts of discovery

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