Copyright: © 1999 Computer Associates International, Inc.  Made by the Technical Writing team in Islandia, NY
Citation: © 1999 Computer Associates International, Inc.


What is Discovery Configuration?

Discovery Configuration allows you to periodically discover computers in your network for newly added, or upgraded ARCserveIT software.  Discovery Server (DS) runs as a background process which collects information from all other Discovery servers installed together with Computer Associates' products across the corporate network.

Discovery Configuration allows you to distribute discovered network target information to remote servers.  This capability allows administrators to decrease network traffic load created by DS in order to discover NT domains or IP Subnet Addresses.  In addition DS allows you to do the following:

Start/Stop Discovery Service

Distribute tables with Discovered Network Targets

Add/modify/delete in any of the three tables created by DS (IP Subnets, IP Subnet Masks, and Windows NT Domains)

Set/modify DS Configuration's parameters


Related Topics

  Start Discovery Service

  How does Discovery Service work?

  When will I need to use 'Discover Now'?


When will I need to 'Discover Now'?

Every time you add an ARCserveIT product to a computer on your network, you need to bring your Discovery tables up to date to include the latest addition.  This is when you will want to Discover Now .


Discovery Configuration Manager

The Discovery Configuration Manager allows you to do the following:

Start/Stop Discovery Service

Distribute tables to discovered network machines


Summary

This screen shows the current settings, the time Discovery service was started, as well as how many products are currently using DS on your machine.

Service Status – Describes the status of the Discovery Service: Running or Stopped.

Service Started – Lists the previous starting time and date of the Discovery Service.

Number of products using DS – Lists the number of products using Discovery Service on the host machine.


Summary

Fields

Discover Now

Configure


Related topics

   How does Discovery Service work?

   What is Discovery Configuration?


Summary - Discover Now

Discover Now allows Discovery Service to query the network and to discover ARCserveIT products installed and are running Discovery Service.

Tip	This should only be used if your network is extremely dynamic or when there is minimum network traffic occurring.


Subnet

The Subnet display shows IP Subnet Addresses and IP Subnet Masks discovered by DS or entered by the user.  The user may Add/Remove/Modify a Subnet in this page, or just Enable/Disable it.  DS will use these pairs of IP Subnet and Mask in order to calculate an IP Address to broadcast a query message.

How do I?

Add a Subnet

Remove a Subnet

Enable/Disable a Subnet


Subnet Mask

The Subnet Mask display shows IP Subnet Masks used by DS in order to calculate IP Addresses to broadcast query messages.  The user can Add/Remove/Modify Subnet Masks presented here or Enable/Disable them.

Tip	Remember, DS creates a record in the IP Subnet table for each IP Subnet Mask presented on this screen.  This means that the number of IP Subnet Addresses for the broadcast will double when you have two Subnet Masks.

How do I?

Add a Subnet Mask

Remove a Subnet Mask

Enable/Disable a Subnet Mask


NT Domain

The list of Windows NT Domains discovered by DS is used to send queries based on Mailslots.

How do I?

Add an NT Domain

Remove an NT Domain

Enable/Disable an NT Domain


Configuration Options

With Configuration Options, the user can specify the transport protocol used to broadcast queries.

Enable Discovery of ARCserveIT Products allows Discovery Service to broadcast queries repeatedly, with a specified interval.  It is not recommended that this be run at all times because it continually broadcasts queries which could increase network traffic.

Enable Network Discovery allows DS to run a process of discovering new NT domains and IP Subnets.  By default, DS will run this process only when Discovery Service is restarted.  You can also tune up the interval, depending on how dynamic your network environment is.

Network

Protocols used to Discover

Protocols used to Reply

Enable Discovery of ARCserveIT Products

Enable Network Discovery

Adapters

Select IP address to Run Discovery

Note: New settings will take effect only after Discovery Service restarts.


Related Topics

   About IP Subnets/NT Domains discovery

   How does Discovery Service work?


Protocols used to Discover

Discovery Configuration can use TCP/IP, Mailslots or both as communication transports.  Selecting TCP/IP is recommended.


Protocols used to Reply

Discovery Configuration can use TCP/IP, Mailslots or both as a communication transports.  Selecting both is recommended.


Enable Discovery of ARCserveIT Products

Enabling this service allows Discovery Service to discover recently installed ARCserveIT products on your network with specified intervals.

Tip	Due to the high network traffic created, this setting, by default, is turned off.  This should only be used if your network is extremely dynamic or when network traffic is most reduced.


Enable Network Discovery

On Restart - By default, DS will run the process of Discovering new NT Domains, IP Subnets, and Subnet Masks on restart of service.

With Interval – Checking this option allows you to set the time period so that Discovery Service can automatically discover IP Subnets, Subnet Masks, and NT Domains on your network.  For a dynamic network, it is recommended that this interval be set anywhere from 72-96 hours.

Tip	If your network is fairly stable, not dynamic, you may choose to disable 'Enable Network Discovery' altogether.


Select IP address to Run Discovery

In the case where your ARCserveIT machine has two network cards attached, Discovery Configuration enumerates the IP Addresses of the cards and allows you to select which one will be used for all Discovery Service communication.

Note: The new IP Address will take effect only after Discovery Service restarts.


Select ARCserveIT Server

Select the ARCserveIT Server to which you wish to distribute the IP Subnet/NT Domain tables.

Tip	For security purposes, if necessary, Discovery Configuration will ask you to provide appropriate credentials to login to a remote machine.

To select a server, either:

1.	Type in the name of the server into the list box.  As you type, the server name closest to the name typed will appear.

OR

Select the server from the list of available servers.  Once selected, login to the server.

2.	You may choose to view the properties of the selected server.

3.	If you wish, click the Set as Default Server check box to use this as your default server.

4.	When your selection is complete, click OK.

5.	The Security Login dialog appears, prompting you to login as the Administrator of the selected server.


Server Properties

Properties of the selected server, including the Server name, Domain name, IP Address, and Latest respond time are displayed.

The ARCserveIT products installed on the machine appear below.  It details the Product, the Version, Build Number, as well as a Description.  The Description display is useful in determining the serial number or edition of the installed software.  (Information displayed will vary based on the edition of ARCserveIT software installed).


Computer Associates on the Web

Home page:

Visit Computer Associates online@ www.cai.com

ARCserveIT updates:

The latest ARCserveIT updates and product information

Technical Support:

You may find the answer to your problems on the Technical Support Web site

Discussion Group:

Join a discussion group. Other ARCserveIT users might have the answers you are looking for about Discovery Configuration.

Note:  You must have an Internet-capable browser installed to use this feature.


Start Discovery Service

To start the Discovery Service, click the Start Button

Tip	Discovery Service, which starts the discovery process, may take some time, depending on the size of the network, and it could also create a load on your WINS servers as well.  Because of this, it is recommended that the IP Subnets/NT Domains Discovery only be run when necessary, and when there is the least amount of network traffic occurring.

While the Discovery Service is running, tell me:

  How does the Discovery Service find all of this information?

  How does it discover my IP Subnets, and Subnet Masks?

  Where can I go to optimize the Discovery Service to fit my network?


Add a Subnet

To add a Subnet:

1.	Click the Add button.

The Subnet – ADD screen appears with the new Subnet highlighted.  The current Subnet Mask setting appears as well.

2.	Type the Subnet and click OK.

3.	You may choose to disable the Subnet at this time.

This is useful when you are allocating a new Subnet for a user and you want it activated when the user is up and ready.  You can then choose to activate it at any time.


Remove a Subnet

To remove a Subnet:

1.	Highlight the Subnet(s) you wish to remove in the list box.

2.	Click Remove and the highlighted selection(s) will appear in the Subnet – REMOVE dialog.

If you have made a mistake, you can un-select at this time.

3.	Click Remove and the Subnet(s) are then removed from the list.


Enable/Disable a Subnet

To enable a Subnet:

Select the Subnet(s) you wish to enable, and click Enable.

The selected Subnet(s) will now appear active on your screen.

To disable a Subnet:

Select the Subnet(s) you wish to disable and click Disable.

The selected Subnets will now be grayed-out.

Tip	Once a Subnet is disabled, Discovery Service will no longer query that Subnet.


Add a Subnet Mask

To add a Subnet Mask:

1.	Click the Add button.

The Subnet Mask – ADD screen appears with the current Subnet Mask setting.

2.	Type the new Subnet Mask, and click OK.

3.	You may choose to disable the Subnet Mask at this time.

This is useful when you are allocating a new Subnet Mask for your network and you want it activated at a later date.  You can then choose to activate it at any time.


Remove a Subnet Mask

To remove a Subnet Mask:

1.	Highlight the Subnet Mask(s) you wish to remove in the list box.

2.	Click Remove and the highlighted selection(s) will appear in the Subnet Mask – REMOVE dialog.

If you have made a mistake, you can un-select at this time.

3.	Click Remove and the Subnet Mask(s) are then removed from the list.


Enable/Disable a Subnet Mask

To enable a Subnet Mask:

Select the Subnet Mask(s) you wish to enable and click Enable.

The selected Subnet Mask(s) will now appear active on your screen.

To disable a Subnet Mask:

Select the Subnet Mask(s) you wish to disable, and click Disable.

The selected Subnets Mask(s) will now be grayed-out.

Tip	Once a Subnet Mask is disabled, Discovery Service will no longer query that Subnet Mask.


Add an NT Domain

To add an NT Domain:

1.	Click the Add button.

The NT Domain – ADD screen appears, allowing you to type the name of your new NT Domain.

2.	Type the new NT Domain name and click OK.

3.	You may choose to disable the NT Domain at this time.

This is useful when you are allocating a new NT Domain to your network and you want it activated at a later date.  You can later choose to activate the NT domain at any time.


Remove an NT Domain

To remove an NT Domain:

1.	Highlight the NT Domain(s) you wish to remove in the list box.

2.	Click Remove and the highlighted selection(s) will appear in the NT Domain – REMOVE dialog.

If you have made a mistake, you can un-select at this time.

3.	Click Remove and the NT Domain(s) are then removed from the list.


Enable/Disable NT Domains

To enable an NT Domain:

Select the NT Domain(s) you wish to enable, and click Enable.

The selected NT Domain(s) will now appear active on your screen.

To disable an NT Domain:

Select the NT Domain(s) you wish to disable, and click Disable.

The selected NT Domain(s) will now be grayed-out.

Tip	Once an NT Domain is disabled, Discovery Service will no longer query that NT Domain.


How does Discovery Service work?

Discovery Server (DS) is implemented as an NT service.  As soon as DS is started, it enumerates the list of products in order to create a behavior mask.  Based on this mask, DS initializes the required components.

The Listen/Serialize component is initialized first and starts listening on a particular port (or Mailslot) for incoming packets (messages) from other Discovery Servers.  When a message is received, DS writes data (if any) into the repository (registry, for example) and then notifies the Query/Advertise component.

The Query/Advertise component sends the message received from the Listen/Serialize component, (prepared with the product's list) directly to the Discovery Server, which has requested the data.  Query/Advertise can also send messages as a broadcast message to the selected network targets (the list of IP Subnets or NT Domains) if it is scheduled or initiated manually.  It does this in order to query other Discovery Servers across the network, and advertise its own list of ARCserveIT products.


Related Topics

  IP Subnets/NT Domains discovery

  When will I need to use 'Discover Now'?

  What is Discovery Configuration?


IP Subnets/NT Domains discovery

In order to query and advertise, Discovery needs the list of network targets to broadcast.  For example, the user might want to discover ARCserveIT products in only one IP Subnet on a TCP/IP enabled network, or in a list of Subnets located physically in the same country.

Another scenario might have a user enumerating the entire corporate network in order to find all possible Subnets and then filtering some of them out.

This process runs in the background.  It enumerates an NT network's resources and creates a list of NT domains for subsequent Mailslot broadcasting and/or listing of IP Subnets for UDP broadcasting.

Tip	This process may take some time, depending on the size of your network.  Because of this, it is recommended that the IP Subnets/NT Domains Discovery be run during a time of minimum network traffic.