2.To start discovering elements on the network, click the Start Discovery button on the IP Addresses tab.
The software discovers the IP addresses selected. During discovery, the following occurs:
•The software changes the status light from green to orange.
•The Log Messages page is displayed. To view the status of discovery, click Discovery > View Logs.
The DISCOVERY COMPLETED message is displayed in the Log Messages box when Discovery is complete.
Keep in mind the following:
•If DNS records for your Microsoft Exchange Servers are outdated or missing, the discovery of Microsoft Exchange may fail because Microsoft Exchange is dependant on Active Directory, which is dependant on DNS. Since Active Directory is dependant on DNS, Active Directory replication and Active Directory lookups may fail or contain errors if DNS records are not accurate.
•If you are having problems discovering an element, see ”Troubleshooting Discovery and Discovery Data Collection” on page 701.
Step B — Obtain the Topology
The user interface may load slowly while the topology is being recalculated. It may also take more time to log into the management server during a topology recalculation.
To obtain the topology:
1.Click Discovery > Topology.
The discovered elements are selected.
2.Click the Get Topology button.
The management server obtains the topology for selected elements.
3.Select the discovery group from which you want to obtain the topology. If you are obtaining the topology for hosts for the first time, make sure All Discovery Groups is selected.
You can use discovery groups to break up getting the topology or getting details. For example, instead of obtaining the topology for all of the elements, you could specify that the management server gets the topology for only the elements in Discovery Group 1, thus, saving you time. You add an element to a discovery group by modifying the properties used to discover the element. See ”Modifying the Properties of a Discovered Address” on page 103.
4.If you see errors in the topology, look at the log messages, which can provide an indication of what went wrong. Look at Event Manager for additional information. Access Event Manager by clicking the Event Manager button in the left pane. To obtain troubleshooting information, see the ”Troubleshooting Topology Issues” on page 709.
If the topology for an element in your network changes, select the element and click Get Topology in Discovery > Topology to updated the information.
The software obtains just enough information about where the element is connected in the topology, for example a switch connected to a host.
124 Discovering Applications, Backup Hosts and Hosts