When to use autodiscovery

With autodiscovery, the IP Manager automatically discovers your network from the seed systems in a seed file, or from a seed system that is specified in an Add Agent command. The discovered devices are probed for IP addresses of their neighbors, and the autodiscovery cycle continues until no more new IP addresses match the discovery filters.

During an initial discovery, using autodiscovery can be time-saving, particularly when topology information is incomplete, as often happens when a network is constantly in flux.

Autodiscovery requires a seed file or the name or IP address of a device to begin the discovery. Consider including a device that is enabled with Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP), Extreme Discovery Protocol (EDP), or Foundry Discovery Protocol (FDP) to improve autodiscovery coverage. At the very least, use a device that is not at a network edge as an agent.

Autodiscovery also requires appropriate discovery filters and configuration.

Although autodiscovery requires more resources than manual discovery alone, with the appropriate discovery filtering, autodiscovery is very efficient and requires little in additional resources.

In addition, autodiscovery can be limited and controlled by specifying manual addition of discovered systems to the topology, and by setting an appropriate topology system limit.