As would be expected, given the range of platforms supported, ViPR SRM uses a variety of interfaces for data collection.  Discoveries across Compute, Network and Storage areas are done without agents (agentless as we call it) and that is a recommendation we make.  However, we do support agent based host discovery for specific usecases.  Looking at the high level architecture of ViPR SRM, you can note that the data collection and its processing resides with ViPR SRM realm: [IMAGE]  Next we will talk about how these collectors collect data from the range of platforms ViPR SRM supports.  For VMware, as an example from Compute area, ViPR SRM leverages the VMware’s vSphere API.  At the time of SP install you are only prompted for the vCenter host and a read-only user: [IMAGE]  The collector then makes the API calls just like any other client to collect information on objects like ESXx/VMs/Datastores.  Physical host discovery on the other hand is a bit involved. There are a few pre-requisites on the host meant to be discovered, documented for simplification.  Once these pre-requisites are met, here is a quick summary covering various versions of Windows OS, for example: [IMAGE]  Moving onto the Storage area, as you know ViPR SRM supports a wide range of platforms.  For VMAX, as an example, we use three different interfaces for data collection:  At the time of SP install, information around UniVMAX, SMIS and Solutions Enabler is prompted for. The collector then uses this configuration to make remote calls. [IMAGE] [IMAGE] For Network area, we use a combination of SNMP and SMIS for data collection on Cisco and Brocade devices.  I hope this serves as a starting point.  There are a lot of details around device discovery which ofcourse cannot be called out in a single post but this should give an idea around agentless discovery process we follow.  Thanks.
How are hosts, switches and arrays discovered within ViPR SRM and are agents required?
How are hosts, switches and arrays discovered within ViPR SRM and are agents 
required?