How does NPM discover devices on the network, and what protocols are typically used?

How does NPM discover devices on the network, and what protocols are typically used?

• A. Discovery is manual only using SNMP and ICMP to gather inventory.
• B. Through auto-discovery or manual add, using SNMP, ICMP (ping), and sometimes WMI on Windows devices to gather inventory and credentials.
• C. Devices are discovered only via IP address list, using SSH.
• D. Discovery is done by scanning for NetFlow enabled devices exclusively.

Answer: (B)

NPM finds devices through both auto-discovery and manual addition, then gathers data using a mix of management protocols. SNMP is used to pull inventory and performance information from most devices, ICMP (ping) helps verify reachability and can aid in discovering devices on subnets, and on Windows machines, WMI provides deeper inventory data and credentials needed for monitoring. This combination lets NPM automatically map out devices across the network while also allowing you to add specific devices manually and supply the appropriate credentials. NetFlow is not used for discovering devices, and SSH is another protocol that can be used in practice for non-Windows systems, but the typical discovery approach highlighted here focuses on SNMP, ICMP, and WMI.

NPM finds devices through both auto-discovery and manual addition, then gathers data using a mix of management protocols. SNMP is used to pull inventory and performance information from most devices, ICMP (ping) helps verify reachability and can aid in discovering devices on subnets, and on Windows machines, WMI provides deeper inventory data and credentials needed for monitoring. This combination lets NPM automatically map out devices across the network while also allowing you to add specific devices manually and supply the appropriate credentials. NetFlow is not used for discovering devices, and SSH is another protocol that can be used in practice for non-Windows systems, but the typical discovery approach highlighted here focuses on SNMP, ICMP, and WMI.