Designing and Managing Behavior Models - Discovering and Defining Nodes - Discovering Nodes - Using a Network Management Platform's Discovery Mechanism -
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Using a Network Management Platform's Discovery Mechanism

The most common method of writing node definitions to the NerveCenter database is to copy them from a network management platform's database. NerveCenter can be configured to received node information from either Hewlett Packard OpenView Network Node Manager or IBM-Tivoli Systems TME 10 NetView.

In either case, you perform these steps:

1. You use the platform's discovery mechanism to explore your network and write node definitions to the platform's database.
2. You specify in NerveCenter your node source (the machine on which your platform's database is located) and a set of filters. Using these filters, you can request that a node be copied to the NerveCenter database if:
   • It is located on a particular subnet and is not explicitly excluded
   • It has particular capabilities, such isRouter, isHub, or isSNMPSupported
   • It has a particular object identifier (OID)

Once you've done this setup, NerveCenter reads the appropriate node definitions into its own database. The node information in NerveCenter's database is updated whenever the node information in the platform's database changes.

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Note    Every node must have SNMP version information before NerveCenter can poll the node or process a trap from the node. When NerveCenter receives nodes from OpenView or NetView, NerveCenter deems the SNMP version for these nodes to be version 1. See Classifying the SNMP Version Configured on Nodes for more information.

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You cannot perform the tasks mentioned in step 2 from the NerveCenter Client, however. These tasks must be taken care of either when NerveCenter is installed or later from the NerveCenter Administrator. For information about performing these tasks at installation, see the book Installing NerveCenter, and for information about performing them later using the NerveCenter Administrator, see Integrating NerveCenter with a Network Management Platform.