User:MonsterSRM/Network discovery

Network discovery is the process by which the elements of a computer network are modeled by software. Network discovery is sometimes referred to as network autodiscovery or network auto-discovery.

Purposes
Network discovery has applications in two major areas:
 * Inventory, auditing, and documentation
 * Network monitoring and management

In both cases, for small and static networks it can be practical to forgo network discovery software and manually determine the contents and configuration of a computer network. However, as the size of a network and the frequency of changes to it increase, this becomes impractical.

Aspects of Network Discovery
Many different approaches to network discovery exist but they all gather information about the network and then process this information in order to create a software model of the network. Different types of solutions vary in the following ways:
 * Information gathering
 * Scope of discovery
 * Algorithms for building the model
 * Presentation of the model

Information gathering for network discovery
Most approaches to network discovery use active probing of network devices though some also use passive listening from one or multiple points on the network.

Active probing solutions depend on the existence of some software running on the devices being probed. Most such solutions only rely on software that is already expected to be running on the network devices as a standard software component or supported protocol. Two primary examples are SNMP and CIM which can be used to gather information about the device. Such solutions are said to support agent-less discovery not because they rely on no software agents, but because they do not rely on any additional custom agents to be installed on the computer network.

The type and nature of information gathered primarily depends upon the scope of the network discovery but also on the needs of the algorithms for building the model.

Scope of network discovery
.Agentless network discovery refers to solutions that do not require the installation of special-purpose software agents on network devices to be probed. This does not means the network discovery software is not replying on any software agent running on the probed devices.

is somewhat of a misnomer in that these solutions do in fact depend upon the existence of a software agent on the probed devices however when such agents are standard software components of the network devices


 * Types of networks supported
 * Types of devices supported
 * OSI layers supported

Vary in terms of what is modeled: - Which OSI layers are discovered - Vendor specific or vendor-neutral - Enterprise vs.Carrier

Algorithms
Gathering of information about the network - Active: Probing devices - Passive: Listening to network traffic Algorithms for creating models based on information gathered

My Snippets
It is performed for inventories, audits, and as a basis for software that monitors network availability, health, and performance.

The alternative to discovering a computer network automatically using network discovery software is to manually maintain an inventory of network elements.

a virtual model of a computer network is constructed in software

which can documentation of most useful for reasonslarge networks because the cost and difficulty

Copy Paste from Another Wiki Page
A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of computers and devices interconnected by communications channels that facilitate communications among users and allows users to share resources. Networks may be classified according to a wide variety of characteristics.

A computer network allows sharing of resources and information among interconnected devices. In the 1960s, the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) started funding the design of the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) for the United States Department of Defense. It was the first computer network in the world. Development of the network began in 1969, based on designs developed during the 1960s.

Purpose
Computer networks can be used for several purposes:
 * Facilitating communications. Using a network, people can communicate efficiently and easily via email, instant messaging, chat rooms, telephone, video telephone calls, and video conferencing.
 * Sharing hardware. In a networked environment, each computer on a network may access and use hardware resources on the network, such as printing a document on a shared network printer.
 * Sharing files, data, and information. In a network environment, authorized user may access data and information stored on other computers on the network. The capability of providing access to data and information on shared storage devices is an important feature of many networks.
 * Sharing software. Users connected to a network may run application programs on remote computers.
 * Information preservation.
 * Security.
 * Speed up.

Network classification
The following list presents categories used for classifying networks.

Connection method
Computer networks can be classified according to the hardware and software technology that is used to interconnect the individual devices in the network, such as optical fiber, Ethernet, wireless LAN, HomePNA, power line communication or G.hn.

Ethernet as it is defined by IEEE 802 utilizes various standards and mediums that enable communication between devices. Frequently deployed devices include hubs, switches, bridges, or