What are discovery protocols and policies?

Protocols and policies

A unified discovery rule defines up to four protocols for MDM to use to discover the device. NSP scans the specified IP address ranges using each protocol in the order defined in the discovery rule. For example, you can use the same discovery rule to discover devices using both SNMP and CLI by selecting SNMP as the first discovery protocol and CLI as the second.

A unified discovery rule must include at least one reachability policy, and at least one mediation policy for each network communication protocol that is used to manage the NE.

You must create mediation policies for all required protocols before discovery, regardless of which protocols are used to discover the devices.

After MDM discovery is completed, NSP discovers classic devices in the specified IP address ranges as applicable, using the classic discovery rule associated with the unified discovery rule.

Adding a domain controller also requires mediation and reachability policies. The protocols for discovery of a controller are often different from those used to discover NEs.

Mediation policies

To discover and manage devices in your network, you must create one or more mediation policies to setup the security and communication infrastructure between the NSP and each device.

A mediation policy defines how the NSP uses a communication type to interact with an NE. The policy specifies the communication settings, and the credentials for security functions. The order in which the policies are added to the discovery rule specifies the order in which they should be used to attempt to reach the NE for discovery.

Model driven mediation policies

If the Classic Mediation parameter in a mediation policy is set to No, the mediation policy is for model-driven mediation. Each MDM policy provides mediation information for one protocol, for example, NETCONF.

If a protocol should be used only for NE management and never for discovery, you can set the Use for Discovery parameter to false.

The protocols required to manage an NE using MDM are listed in the artifact guide for the NE family, along with any applicable recommendations about the order in which the protocols should be used.

Select a policy in the Device Discovery, Mediation Policies view to see policy components, including the discovery rules, controllers, and NEs, if available, that use the mediation policy. If a mediation policy is in use, it cannot be deleted.

Classic mediation policies

If the Classic Mediation parameter in a mediation policy is set to Yes, the mediation policy is for mediation with classic devices. A classic mediation policy can include mediation information for SNMP, CLI, and/or file transfer.

Mediation policies for controller discovery

Certain model-driven mediation protocols can be used for discovery of domain controllers only.

Reachability policies

A reachability policy defines a way for the NSP to perform a reachability check. The policy specifies the communication type to be used to reach the NE, for example SNMP, how often to attempt to reach the NE, and how long to wait for a response.

A reachability check is a scheduled check that the NSP initiates via the configured protocol (SNMP or Ping ICMP echo request).  If the NE responds, it is reachable from the NSP system. If the device becomes unreachable, an alarm is raised.

Policy synching from NFM-P

If mediation and reachability policies are present in the NFM-P, they are synched to the NSP and appear in the Device Discovery, Mediation Policies and Device Discovery, Reachability Policies views.