Owner's Manual

Configuring Dell OpenManage IT Assistant to Monitor Your Systems 97
Discovery in Jane’s Small-to-Medium Size
Business
Jane wants to discover all of the systems on her network. Discovery is a
process whereby IT Assistant identifies each system and records identifying
information for that system in the IT Assistant database.
As we mentioned previously, Jane is the sole system administrator of a mixed
network of systems that includes:
• 50 Dell PowerEdge systems
• 200 Dell OptiPlex desktops
• 10 Dell PowerConnect switches
Jane is going to use IT Assistant to monitor global status for her systems, as
well as to receive notification when a Dell system or a PowerConnect switch
on her network is in the warning or critical state. Jane does not plan to use
IT Assistant to notify her when one of her desktop systems generates an alert.
Decisions to be Made Prior to Configuring IT Assistant Discovery
Before using IT Assistant to configure discovery, Jane needs to make some
basic decisions about her network. Specifically, she must decide the:
• Systems management protocols needed to manage the systems and
devices on her network
• Community names and trap destinations for systems to be managed
by SNMP
• SNMP requirements for PowerConnect switches
• CIM authentication credentials
• Host names, IP addresses, or IP subnet ranges of systems she wants to monitor
Systems Management Protocols Needed for Jane’s Network
In planning to configure discovery, Jane has a mixture of system types (server,
client, and switches). The systems management protocols that Jane requires to
manage these networked systems and devices are:
• SNMP for her Dell systems and PowerConnect switches