In some deployments, NIOS IPAM offers network discovery capabilities. NIOS discovery includes Network Discovery and Network Insight, which is a superset of Network Discovery that supports SNMP and enables detailed viewing and assessments of network devices in managed and unmanaged networks, including networks in routed paths, security infrastructure devices, and networks within switched Ethernet segments.
Deployment of Network Insight discovery requires a separate Discovery license and one or more NIOS appliances dedicated to discovery tasks. Types of discovered devices include Ethernet switches (including enterprise L3 switches), routers, wireless routers and access points, firewalls, hosts and other devices in end host networks, and much more. Network Insight applies discovery in the following ways:
- Through specification of seed routers, which inform discovery of the various networks that should be examined and catalogued.
- Through discovery of the various Object types you can create under IPAM and DHCP, including IPv4 and IPv6 Networks, Host Records, IPv4 reservations, DHCP ranges, and IPv4/IPv6 fixed addresses.
- An enhanced VM discovery allowing both scheduled VM discovery and immediate discovery of VMs.
For more information about network discovery, see the chapter IP Discovery and vDiscovery and its various sections.
For a complete discussion of Network Insight, see the chapter Infoblox Network Insight and its various sections.