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The Auto Discovery Subsystems
There are two major subsystems in the Auto Discovery tool that are used to perform the process described below. First, a Discovery subsystem is responsible for performing the device-specific probes, and then generates output data from these probes. Separately, an Automation subsystem is responsible for parsing through the discovery data in order to determine the appropriate host and service profiles, and is also responsible for updating the GroundWork configuration database with the final results.
Network discovery operations such as the one described here require both of these components in order to perform as expected. However, it's important to recognize that the Automation subsystem is not exclusively dependent on the Discovery component to provide its input data, and in fact, the Automation component can use almost any kind of structured text for the purpose of synchronizing the configuration database. For example, administrators can use the Automation subsystem to synchronize GroundWork Monitor's configuration database with an input file that originated from a spreadsheet or a network management system, without ever probing the network at all. In this regard, the Discovery and Automation components are relatively independent, and perform different tasks, although both of them play important roles, and they are designed to work together in common usage scenarios.
Figure: Auto Discovery Architecture
