Feature released in SummitAI Platform (Sierra SP1 HF04)

What's New?

Following new enhancements are done related to Discovery:

Discovery Using New Options Active Directory and Subnet Mask

Earlier, the Administrator was able to configure Subnet Discovery Type only, and values in the Subnet From and Subnet To were manually configured. In the Subnet Discovery Type, the Software Discovery, Additional Discovery, and Advanced Software Discoveries were performed cumulatively by default. Due to this, the Discovery process was taking too long to discover. Now, the Administrator can configure Type of Discovery as Subnet/Active Directory/Subnet Mask along with discovery scope using the Software Discovery, Advanced Software Discovery, and/or Additional Discovery check boxes.

Configuring Discovery Using Active Directory Option

The Administrators can configure Discovery using the new Active Directory option.

On the DISCOVERY page, a new Type as Active Directory and some new related fields are added. For more information about the newly added fields, see the following section, UI Changes. For Active Directory Discovery configuration, the LDAP should be configured (see: Configuring Monitoring Account using LDAP in the following section).

Note:

The LDAP, Lightweight Directory Access Protocol, is a light-weight client-server protocol to access the Active Directory for Discovery. The LDAP Path needs to be configured on the MONITORING ACCOUNT page (see: Configuring Monitoring Account using LDAP in the following section).

Figure: Discovery Type - Active Directory

Configuring Monitoring Account Using LDAP

The Administrators can configure LDAP on the MONITORING ACCOUNT page (Admin > Advanced > Discovery & Monitoring > Monitoring Account). Under the Used For drop-down field, a new drop-down value LDAP is added. If this value is selected, the Domain, User Name, Password, Re-enter Password, IPAddress, LDAP Path, and Active fields are populated. After the LDAP configurations are set on this page, the configured LDAP path is available for selection on the DISCOVERY page under the LDAP Path field while configuring the Discovery using Type as Active Directory.

Monitoring Account
Figure: MONITORING ACCOUNT page

Configuring Discovery Using Subnet Mask Option

The Administrators can configure Discovery using the new Subnet Mask option.

On the DISCOVERY page, a new Type as Subnet Mask and related new fields are added. The Subnet Mask Discovery type is similar to the Subnet Discovery Type, except in Subnet Mask, the Subnet limit can be set by selecting appropriate CIDR notations. By default, the /16 to /24 CIDR notations are available in the Subnet From [CIDR] field. The default selection is /24 CIDR notation, which in turn allows only one Subnet and 256 IPs for the Discovery. The Discovery scope can be defined with the help of the Software Discovery, Advanced Software Discovery, and Additional Discovery check boxes. For more information on the Software Discovery, Advanced Software Discovery, and Additional Discovery check boxes, see UI Changes.

CIDR Notation table

CIDR Notation	Subnet	IPs in Range	Example Input	CIDR IP Range
24	1	256	192.168.50.0/24	192.168.50.0 - 192.168.50.255
23	2	512	192.168.50.0/23	192.168.50.0 - 192.168.51.255
22	4	1,024	192.168.50.0/22	192.168.48.0 - 192.168.51.255
21	8	2,048	192.168.50.0/21	192.168.48.0 - 192.168.55.255
20	16	4,096	192.168.50.0/20	192.168.48.0 - 192.168.63.255
19	32	8,192	192.168.50.0/19	192.168.32.0 - 192.168.63.255
18	64	16,384	192.168.50.0/18	192.168.0.0 - 192.168.63.255
17	128	32,768	192.168.50.0/17	192.168.0.0 - 192.168.127.255
16	256	65,536	192.168.50.0/16	192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255

Note:

The Administrator can configure CIDR notations other than default available CIDR notation by inserting the following key in the SummitAI Proxy Server.Config.exe: <add key="isCIDRConfigurable" value="True" />.

Discovery Type - Subnet Mask
Figure: Discovery Type - Subnet Mask

UI Changes

Following UI changes are made on the DISCOVERY page:

Field	Description
Type	The Type drop-down field contains the following Discovery types using which the Administrator can configure Discovery: Subnet, Active Directory, and Subnet Mask. Active Directory and Subnet Mask are the newly added options.
Thread Timeout	It is required when the multi-threaded Discovery is performed. If a thread is not discovered in one attempt, the SummitAI application retries the Discovery attempt until the time (in seconds) specified in this field. If the respective thread is not discovered within the specified time, a thread timeout error message is displayed. By default, the Thread Timeout value is 300 seconds.
Software Discovery	If this check box is selected, only the basic Software details are discovered. It is a WMI-based Discovery that gives data of only added and removed Software, which in turn contributes in enhancing the system performance. If this check box is not selected, the SummitAI application ignores the added and removed Software for discovery. Note: On the DISCOVERY page (Type: Subnet/Active Directory/Subnet Mask), the Software Discovery check box is displayed only after selecting the WMI check box in the Protocol field.
Advanced Software Discovery	If this check box is selected, the Application fetches the registry and provides extensive Software Discovery details. Note: On the DISCOVERY page (Type: Subnet/Active Directory/Subnet Mask), the Advanced Software Discovery check box is displayed only after selecting the WMI check box in the Protocol field.
Additional Discovery	In the traditional Hardware Discovery only the basic parameters, such as CPU, model number, memory size, serial number, and so on, are discovered. If this check box is enabled, more details of the Hardware, such as local users, services, and so on, are discovered. If this check box is not selected, the Application does not perform additional Discovery and the Hardware is discovered in a traditional way. Note: On the DISCOVERY page (Type: Subnet/Active Directory/Subnet Mask), the Additional Discovery check box is displayed only after selecting the WMI check box in the Protocol field.

Configuring Discovery Using Subnet Option - Setting Discovery Scope

The Administrators can configure Discovery using Subnet option as per the existing feature. Earlier, Software Discovery, Additional Discovery, and Advanced Software Discoveries were performed cumulatively by default. Due to this, the Discovery process was taking too long to discover. Now, the Administrator can define the Discovery scope using the Software Discovery, Advanced Software Discovery, and Additional Discovery check boxes. For more information about the Software Discovery, Advanced Software Discovery, and Additional Discovery check boxes, see UI Changes.

Discovery
Figure: Discovery Type - Subnet

Editing Existing Discovery Configuration

Earlier, the Administrators could not edit an existing Discovery configuration. The Administrators can now edit the existing Discovery configurations and make few changes.

On the DISCOVERY page under the LIST section, a hyperlink is added to the Job Name. Using this hyperlink the Administrators can edit the desired Discovery configuration.

DISCOVERY LIST page
Figure: DISCOVERY page

Discovery 6
Figure: Discovery page (editing Discovery configurations)

Release Notes

Discovery Related Enhancement