Product overview
BMC Discovery is a data center discovery solution that automatically discovers data center inventory, configuration and relationship data, and maps applications to the IT infrastructure. Using the information that BMC Discovery finds about your IT environment, you can make accurate, informed, data-driven decisions that help you to:
- Reduce the number of incidents caused by a change
- Reduce the time taken to isolate the root cause for incidents
- Reduce the time taken to prepare for audits and preventing audit penalties
- Prioritize incidents based on business impact
- Optimize data center hardware and software
BMC Discovery establishes the foundation for improving IT processes and productivity by providing timely and actionable insight to make informed decisions in IT service management, asset management, and infrastructure or operations management.
BMC Discovery uses the following strategy to explore and manage your IT environment:
Product features
BMC Discovery uses a web-based, thin-client interface. No software is installed on a user's workstation.
BMC Discovery is divided into two major parts, the appliance, and the BMC Discovery Outpost. The BMC Discovery Outpost is application software that runs on a dedicated Windows server in your data center or on a public cloud.
BMC Discovery provides the following key features and components.
Key Feature | Description |
|---|---|
BMC Discovery service | The BMC Discovery service performs a similar task to the BMC Discovery Outpost but runs on the BMC Discovery appliance. For Windows, discovery performed from the (Linux-based) appliance uses an external proxy running on a dedicated Windows server to log into and scan the Windows hosts. |
BMC Discovery Outpost | BMC Discovery Outpost is application software that runs on a dedicated Windows server in your data center or on a public cloud. The BMC Discovery service sends a request to an Outpost to scan the IP address required, and the Outpost accesses the target by using the credentials that are held in a secure, encrypted vault. For more information, see BMC Discovery Outpost. |
CMDB synchronization | CMDB synchronization ensures that data in BMC Helix CMDB is continuously synchronized with information discovered by BMC Discovery. For more information, see CMDB-synchronization. |
Start Anywhere Application Modeling | Start Anywhere Application Modeling (SAAM) enables you to choose any entry point, or points into an application, and begin modeling from there. The models are not static. They update automatically to reflect the current data. For more information, see Start anywhere application modeling. |
Discover cloud services | BMC Discovery provides cloud scanning capabilities and discovers multi-cloud environments, such as Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS). BMC Discovery performs this discovery leveraging APIs and agentless protocols. For more information, see Discovering cloud services. |
Data provenance | BMC Discovery’s Provenance feature shows the actual command that was executed, the output of the command, and the timestamp when it happened. There’s no searching through log files – all this information is available in the UI, ensuring data accuracy that you can verify and trust. For more information, see Data provenance. |
Exhaustive pattern library | The BMC Discovery library includes over 650 text-based patterns for industry-leading software, such as Oracle and SAP. New patterns are added monthly to discover custom software, uncommon SNMP devices, and more. For more information, see Pattern library. |
Reasoning | The Discovery Engine is supported by Reasoning, which intelligently infers information about hosts and programs from the Directly Discovered Data (DDD). The process of adding DDD to the datastore causes Reasoning to execute patterns against the DDD. For more information, see Reasoning. |
Discovery queue | Your interaction with BMC Discovery results in the Reasoning service placing work in the discovery queue. The discovery service on the appliance and the BMC Discovery Outpost poll the discovery queue for work to undertake. For more information, see Discovery queue. |
Datastore | The datastore is the database in which the DDD and inferred data are stored. The datastore also holds TKU information, patterns, operational data, and some configuration data. For more information, see Datastore. |
Clustering | Clustering, also known as Big Discovery, enables you to discover and get usable results from even the largest data centers in the shortest time possible with the help of clusters. A cluster consists of two or more coordinated BMC Discovery machines, one of which is in control of the group and is referred to as the coordinator. For more information, see Clustering. |
Learn more
The BMC Discovery documentation helps new and experienced users use this product effectively. Based on your purpose, the following sections of the documentation are recommended.
Goal | Related Information |
|---|---|
Learn the key features and the core functionality of the BMC Discovery product. | |
Understand the UI components and dashboards, and learn how to perform basic tasks, such as using the home page or setting preferences in BMC Discovery. | |
Create and edit system users and groups. Learn about group permissions for tasks, such as viewing the UI or managing clusters in BMC Discovery. | |
Be familiar with the various terms used in BMC Discovery, such as RemQuery, patterns, and so on. | |
Start using BMC Discovery by performing an end-to-end procedure that takes you from your initial login into the appliance right up to discovering targets in your IT environment. | |
Describe applications, products, and other real-world entities that have been modeled in BMC Discovery using The Pattern Language (TPL). | |
Access detailed reference information about the products, network devices, and cloud providers that BMC Discovery can scan. Be up-to-date with the monthly Technology Knowledge Update (TKU) release. | |
Learn a quick and easy approach to modeling, which enables you to choose any entry points into an application or Business Service and begin modeling from there. | |
Find answers to the typical questions you may have about BMC Discovery and the BMC Discovery Outpost features or configuration. | |
Refer to the detailed troubleshooting tips and steps provided by the Support team to resolve issues related to BMC Discovery or the BMC Discovery Outpost. |
You should also explore the following product assistance:
- All users should view and set up a watch on the Release-notes-and-notices page for the latest product information and documentation updates.
Refer to the BMC Community page for BMC Discovery. Experts from BMC can help you out with your queries.
Refer to the top-viewed BMC Discovery Knowledge Articles posted on BMC Community to get insights into issue resolution.
View the product videos available on YouTube and see the PDFs-and-videos page.
See the training and certification offerings available for BMC Discovery on our BMC Education portal.