When is it appropriate to run Network discovery?

Running Network Discovery is particularly appropriate for organizations that lack knowledge of available IP addresses. This process is designed to automatically identify and catalog devices on a network, which is especially useful for environments where there may be limited visibility into the existing infrastructure.

When an organization does not have a clear inventory or understanding of the devices connected to its network, Network Discovery can help uncover active devices, IP addresses, and related network details. This capability is vital for maintaining an accurate and comprehensive configuration management database (CMDB), which in turn aids in effective system management and governance.

In contrast, knowing all the IP addresses ahead of time is not a requirement for a successful Network Discovery; in fact, that scenario would typically imply that a manual inventory or some other form of management is already in place. Furthermore, while running Network Discovery after all devices are installed or for troubleshooting purposes could provide benefits, these contexts do not fully leverage the fundamental advantage of the discovery process, which aims to provide insights into the network landscape that are not otherwise known. Hence, the strongest rationale for initiating Network Discovery is to aid organizations that are starting from a point of limited knowledge about their network environment.