Device Merge Decision Information
- Last Updated: July 8, 2022
- 2 minute read
- WhatsUp Gold
WhatsUp Gold uses discovery-time rule sets in order to understand device boundaries. Properties that identify a device as a distinct entity include MAC address, network address, SNMP System Name, and NetBIOS characteristics. As Discovery harvests device information, these device-distinguishing characteristics help WhatsUp Gold to recognize and merge device records belonging to a single physical or virtual device.
Note: For special environments, you can provide hints to WhatsUp Gold to override normal device record merging using Address Exceptions.
Viewing Device Record Merge History
You can view device record merge activity as a:
- Last merge summary. Select a device on the Discovery Map and expand Merge Information on the Discovered Network Device Card.
- Merge table (previous n merges). Either click Previous Merges from Merge Information or select a device on the Network Map, click Device Properties (
), click the Inventory tab, and from the drop down list, choose Merge.
Understanding Merge Information
Merge information includes:
- Merge Time. Time that rules match was detected (typically during discovery or rescan).
- Device Name. Primary device name at the time of merge.
- Device 1 IP. Network (IP) address of primary device at the time of merge.
- Device 2 Name. Name of secondary device before it was merged with primary.
- Device 2 IP. Network (IP) address of secondary device merged with primary.
- Merge Reason. Reason category that indicates the final merge decision (MAC address match, for example).
- Matched Key. Network (IP) address, hardware address, or other key field matched for the merge.
- SNMP System Name. System name reported from SNMP management object.