Managing NerveCenter
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Managing Node Data - Maintaining the Node List - Synchronization with your network management platform -
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Synchronization with your network management platform
Over time, a network's topology will change. Eventually your network management platform will add newly discovered devices to its database. It will also delete nodes and change node information. If NerveCenter depends on your network management platform for the data in its node list, it will need to adapt to reflect these changes.
NerveCenter will automatically update its node list to keep in sync with your network management platform's node data. This occurs in the following situations:
- When your network management platform adds a node to its node database. After NerveCenter verifies the node meets the criteria set by its filters, it will add the node to its node list.
- When your network management platform deletes a node from its node database. NerveCenter will delete from its node list any node that is set to Autodelete. Autodelete is the default setting for any new node added to the node list. This setting can be changed in the node's Node Definition Window in the NerveCenter Client. (See the section "Discovering and defining nodes" in Designing and Managing Behavior Models in the NerveCenter documentation.)
- When your network management platform changes information about a node in its node database. NerveCenter will make any necessary changes to its node data, including changes in the community string, address, parenting information or the managed/unmanaged state.
Note If your network management platform unmanages a node in the NerveCenter node list, the unmanaged state will be updated in NerveCenter. However, if your network management platform unmanages a node not found in NerveCenter's node list, the node will not be added to NerveCenter.
Most often, the node list will only be updated a node at a time. Occasionally, NerveCenter will need to perform a complete resynchronization with the platform. A resynchronization gathers from the platform the most current node data for all nodes. This occurs in the following situations:
- The NerveCenter Server is started and successfully connects to the OpenView Platform Adapter (OVPA).
- A connection between the NerveCenter Server and the node source successfully reconnects after being broken.
- The NerveCenter administrator changes the way in which NerveCenter filters by capabilities or system Object Identifiers (OIDs).
- A user manually chooses
Resync in the Server menu of the NerveCenter Client.
The Machine Name field on the Node Source tab of the NerveCenter Administrator specifies the name of the host running the platform resynchronizing with NerveCenter. (See for more details on how to declare a node data source.) The Node Source and IP Filters tabs also specify the parameters NerveCenter uses to filter node data. (See .)
Anyone administering NerveCenter should be aware of two important scenarios involving changes to your network management platform's database:
- If the name changes in your network management platform's database, NerveCenter considers it to be a new node.
- If a node is unmanaged in one of your network management platform's maps but is managed in another, the node will remain in the managed state in NerveCenter's node data.
Caution Since your network management platform's node is matched to a NerveCenter node using its name, you should use care when changing NerveCenter's node configurations. Resynchronization adds nodes when it cannot find names that match your network management platform's map information. Therefore, if you change a node's name in the Node Definition window, resynchronization will not find a match and will add a node, resulting in two nodes with the same address but different names.