When network discovery starts after the Wizard setup or platform upgrade, it runs continuously as a background task, staying up to date with device and network changes as they happen. You can watch the progress of discovery as NetMRI learns your network, and adjust discovery settings to control what it finds and how it collects data.
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You can To change discovery settings at any time either through the Setup Wizard (Settings icon –> Setup –> Setup Wizard) or through individual Settings pages (such as Settings icon –> Setup –> Discovery Settings), click Settings icon > Setup > Setup Wizard or Settings icon > Setup > Discovery Settings. You can also flexibly define discovery blackouts at the network, discovery range, device group, and device level to prevent discovery protocols and traffic from occupying network bandwidth at inopportune times, such as latency-sensitive trading or video applications operating during daytime hours. For information, see Configuring Network Discovery Settings and Defining Blackout Periods. |
To perform network discovery, you use several fundamental tools: Network Views, Scan Interfaces, Discovery Settings, and SNMP/CLI credentials.
- Network Views: NetMRI uses network views to create separate management domains for your networks and devices, including VRF-based virtual networks. You manage every network, including virtual networks, through a separate network view. For more information, see Configuring Network Views.
- Scan Interfaces: You configure scan interfaces to physically or logically connect to multiple networks, enabling discovery and management in different network domains. Every scan interface you create maps to a network view. For more information, see Configuring Scan Interfaces.
- Discovery Settings: You specify the IP prefixes, also called discovery ranges, to define the IP address space that is managed on each network. Another key setting is called a seed router, which is a gateway routing device considered to help speed discovery across more network spaces. For more information, see Configuring Network Discovery Settings.
- SNMP and CLI Credentials: NetMRI requires SNMP for most discovery tasks. Many discovery and data collection tasks, including VRF discovery, also require the use of CLI and Enable password credentials to access device configurations. You collect and add these values to NetMRI through a Credentials page. For more information, see Adding and Editing Device Credentials.
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When existing customers update a NetMRI deployment to the current release, a number of changes appear in the deployment.
- Your currently managed network, with its current discovery settings, is managed through a new network view named after the previously defined network name. No further configuration is necessary for continued network management but changes can be made at any time. For more information, see Configuring Network Views.
- Existing discovery settings, such as CIDR discovery ranges, are automatically assigned to the network view used for the managed network.
- Your SCAN port for your appliance (or appliances, in the case of Operations Center deployments using Collectors) will automatically be assigned to the network view that is used for your present managed network. This port will be named LAN1. For more information, see Configuring Scan Interfaces.
- Depending on your appliance, a second LAN2 port is made available for further network connections.
- Your MGMT port will continue to operate as the appliance's Web management interface.
- All active Ethernet interfaces on your appliance(s), including the MGMT port, support Ethernet 802.1Q encapsulation for virtual scan interfaces. For more information, see Configuring Virtual Scan Interfaces.
- If VRF-aware devices exist on your managed network, System Health banner messages will notify you about unassigned VRFs. To enable full network discovery and control for each virtual network, these networks need to be mapped to virtual scan interfaces. For more information, see Mapping Virtual Networks to Network Views and Configuring Virtual Scan Interfaces.
Existing Operations Center deployments will see the following changes:
- For an OC deployment managing a single large network, you will see multiple entries in the pages under the Settings icon –> Setup –> Discovery Settings for selectable network views. The entire network is assigned to a single network view. However, each network view entry is identified through the association of each Collector. This allows you to edit discovery settings for each Collector in the same network view.
- Multi-Network Operations Center deployments automatically assign each managed network to a new Network View. Each network view is named based upon the original network name.
- Multi-Network Operations Center deployments automatically define a new set of device groups for each managed network, along with the standard set of device groups. These network-specific device groups are named using the original network name as a prefix.
- During the upgrade, a Multi-Network OC deployment creates a series of new network views, each of which corresponds to the networks managed under the prior software release. Each device listed in Network Explorer tables provides a link under a new Network View column, which opens the Network Viewer window. This window lists all devices that are members of the network view.
- In Multi-Network Operations Center deployments, discovery settings for each network, such as CIDR discovery ranges and seed routers, are automatically associated to the network views for each managed network, that use each of the respective discovery settings.
The following section, Discovery with a New NetMRI Deployment, describes the sequence of high-level tasks you perform to configure and run discovery on your network.
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Complete the following procedure to perform your first network discovery:
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- For more information, see
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- View summaries of discovery events: Click the All Devices device group in the right panel, and open the Network Explorer –> Discovery page to see a table of all devices being discovered by NetMRI. For more information about the features on this page, see Viewing and Managing Discovery Results.
- View a list of devices your appliance has recently discovered: Click the All Devices device group in the right panel, and open the Network Explorer –> Inventory page to see tables of all member devices. For more information about the features on this page, see Viewing Network Inventory.
- View summaries of recently discovered network phenomena: Includes summary information of routed networks, VLANs, route targets, and virtual networks (VRFs). For more information about the features on this page, see Summarizing Network Topologies.
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Map virtual networks. If your network has virtual networks, NetMRI automatically discovers them on the devices where they are configured and alerts you through System Health banner messages at the top of the screen to map those VRF-aware devices to the network views where they belong. By mapping each virtual network to network views, you provide more information to the discovery process. For more information, see Mapping Virtual Networks to Network Views.
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CLI credentials to devices are required to determine if devices are VRF-aware and to collect VRF-related data. |
9. As NetMRI polls devices deeper into the network, it may find more VRF-based virtual networks. These networks need to be mapped to virtual scan interfaces to enable full network discovery and control for each virtual network. For more information, see Mapping Virtual Networks to Network Views, Configuring Virtual Scan Interfaces, and Configuring VRF-Aware Device Interfaces.
The following table summarizes both migrated and new installations (steps 6-9 are common to both procedures):
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Step #
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Migration/Upgrade
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New Installation
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1
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Upgrade your software in the administrative shell.
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Install new appliances and perform system configuration through the Setup Wizard.
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2
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Currently managed networks are converted to new network views using the same network name.
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Configure network views (if required) for multiple network management.
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3
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Scan ports are associated with the network views created from the previously defined Networks.
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Configure NetMRI scan interfaces (if required) for multiple network management.
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4
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All existing discovery settings are automatically associated with their network views.
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Configure discovery ranges/seed routers/static IPs and associate to network views where needed.
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5
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Existing SNMP/CLI credentials configurations remain unchanged.
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Configure SNMP/CLI credentials.
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6
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Discover through network views.
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7
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Automatic VRF detection/data collection/System Health notifications.
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8
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Map discovered VRFs to new network views.
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9
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Configure VRF-aware device interfaces (if necessary).
Preparing for NetMRI VRF Access
For effective use of NetMRI to connect to and manage virtual networks, complete all steps listed in this section before configuring NetMRI. The information in this section applies specifically to the non-Infoblox network devices (e.g., Cisco and Juniper) that route virtual networks:
- Identify the VRFs/virtual networks you want NetMRI to access and manage.
- Identify the single VRF-aware Switch/Router on the managed network, that is aware of all of the desired VRFs. NetMRI will need to access the VRFs through this device.
- A VRF-aware device may not exist on the network that is aware of all of the VRFs. If it is not possible to consolidate all VRFs into a single-trunked port, you can physically connect NetMRI to multiple places on the network. NetMRI has up to 3 physical scan interfaces available, labeled MGMT, LAN1, and LAN2, that may differ slightly per platform. For more information, see Configuring Scan Interfaces.
- You also must identify a minimal set of VRF-Aware devices that collectively are aware of all the VRFs you wish NetMRI to manage.
- Reserve a valid routable IP address on each VRF. These IPs will be configured on NetMRI virtual scan interfaces that will connect to each virtual network. Prepare an IP, subnet mask, and gateway for each VRF.
- You must configure at least one network device to provide access to the virtual networks for NetMRI. NetMRI can connect to multiple VRFs on the same physical interface, using virtual scan interfaces, each associated with an encapsulated 802.1q tag. To access each VRF, complete the following:
- The interface NetMRI connects to, should be configured to transport via an 802.1q encapsulated traffic (trunked port).
- Each tag carried by the trunked port should be associated with a single VRF on the device.
- If the device NetMRI is connected to is not VRF aware, and then the 802.1q configurations will be in the form of VLANs, with one VLAN for each VRF. In this case, the device must trunk the VLANs to another device that is VRF aware, and can be configured to associate each 802.1q tag to a VRF.
In general, connecting NetMRI directly to a VRF-aware device requires less network device configuration.
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