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ft:publication_title :

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---

# Storage discovery examples

# Storage discovery examples {#ariaid-title1}

Release version: Australia  
Updated March 12, 2026  
![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 2 minutes to read
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## Summary of Storage discovery examples

Discovery in ServiceNow automatically identifies and creates configuration items (CIs) and relationships for both physical and logical storage components connected to servers.
It supports storage attached directly to hosts as well as storage accessed through fibre channel switched fabrics, providing a comprehensive view of storage infrastructure.
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## Direct Attached Storage (DAS) Example

In a DAS setup, Discovery identifies SCSI drives and their partitions attached to a Linux host. For instance, a SCSI device **/dev/sda** with partitions **/dev/sda1** (bootable, mounted to /boot) and **/dev/sda2** (used as a logical volume storage pool with free space for additional volumes) is discovered. Discovery creates CIs for the physical disk, partitions, logical volumes, storage pools, and file systems, along with their relationships, such as which partitions belong to which disks and mount points on the host.

## Multipath Fibre Channel Storage Example

For fibre channel SAN environments with multipath setups, Discovery identifies multiple physical storage devices (e.g., **mpatha** and **mpathb**) connected via fibre channel switches, which provide failover capabilities. It discovers partitions and logical volumes mapped across these devices, including their mount points in the Linux file system. CIs are created for physical devices, partitions, logical volumes, and their interconnections, enabling visibility into complex multipath configurations.

## Switched Fibre Fabric Details

Discovery extends to the logical sub-components within NAS and SAN environments, identifying fibre channel disks, storage pools, host bus adapters (HBAs), and physical block storage. It also maps relationships within switched fibre fabrics, highlighting redundant paths used for failover. This enables ServiceNow customers to visualize the complete storage fabric and failover mechanisms in place.

## Key Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

* Automated and accurate discovery of physical and logical storage components, reducing manual effort.
* Comprehensive visibility into storage devices, partitions, logical volumes, and their relationships on Linux hosts.
* Insight into multipath fibre channel SAN environments, including failover paths and storage fabric topology.
* Improved configuration management database (CMDB) accuracy supporting better infrastructure management and troubleshooting.  
Discovery creates configuration items (CIs) and relationships for physical and
logical storage components attached to servers directly or through fibre channel switched fabric.

## Direct attached storage {#storage-discovery-examples__section_jwd_pmz_mcb}

In this example of direct attached storage (DAS), a SCSI drive with two partitions, /dev/sda1 and /dev/sda2, is attached to a Linux host. The /dev/sda1 partition is bootable and supports the system software. The /dev/sda2 partition contains a logical volume configured as a storage pool and mounted to the Linux root file system by Logical Volume Management (LVM). The storage pool uses only 1.5GB of the partition, leaving 13GB of storage available for additional logical volumes.Figure 1. Direct attached storage example {#storage-discovery-examples__table_t5y_fgq_mz__entry__4}

| Configuration item | Description | Tables | Key reference and Relationships |
|-|-|-|-|
| /dev/sda | SCSI physical storage device | * \[cmdb_ci_disk\] * \[cmdb_ci_storage_device\] * \[cmdb_rel_ci\] {#storage-discovery-examples__ul_ehs_qgq_mz} | \[cmdb_rel_ci\] * Provides: /dev/sda * Provided by:/dev/sda1 {#storage-discovery-examples__ul_y2y_4mq_mz} |
| /dev/sda | SCSI physical storage device | * \[cmdb_ci_disk\] * \[cmdb_ci_storage_device\] * \[cmdb_rel_ci\] {#storage-discovery-examples__ul_ehs_qgq_mz} | \[cmdb_rel_ci\] * Provides: /dev/sda * Provided by:/dev/mapper/lvm-root-333-0 {#storage-discovery-examples__ul_rj1_vmq_mz} |
| /dev/sda1 | Partition 1 on the SCSI storage device | * \[cmdb_ci_partition\] * \[cmdb_ci_storage_volume\] * \[cmdb_ci_file_system\] * \[cmdb_rel_ci\] {#storage-discovery-examples__ul_xyr_shq_mz} | \[cmdb_ci_file_system\] * Mount point: /boot * File system: Ext4 {#storage-discovery-examples__ul_fpm_znq_mz} |
| /dev/sda1 | Partition 1 on the SCSI storage device | * \[cmdb_ci_partition\] * \[cmdb_ci_storage_volume\] * \[cmdb_ci_file_system\] * \[cmdb_rel_ci\] {#storage-discovery-examples__ul_xyr_shq_mz} | \[cmdb_rel_ci\] * Provides: /dev/sda * Provided by:/dev/sda1 {#storage-discovery-examples__ul_udf_g4q_mz} |
| /dev/sda2 | Partition 2 on the SCSI storage device | * \[cmdb_ci_partition\] * \[cmdb_ci_storage_pool_member\] {#storage-discovery-examples__ul_icg_knq_mz} | \[cmdb_ci_storage_pool_member\] * Pool: /dev/mapper/lvm-root-333-0 * Storage: /dev/sda2 {#storage-discovery-examples__ul_tvm_x4q_mz} |
| /dev/mapper/lvm-root-333-0 | Linux logical volume, mapped with LVM to a physical disk storage partition. | * \[cmdb_ci_storage_device\] * \[cmdb_ci_storage_volume\] * \[cmdb_ci_file_system\] * \[cmdb_ci_storage_pool\] * \[cmdb_ci_storage_pool_member\] * \[cmdb_ci_lvm_pool\] * \[cmdb_ci_lvm_pool_member\]\[cmdb_rel_ci\] {#storage-discovery-examples__ul_ohx_4nq_mz} | \[cmdb_ci_file_system\] * Mount point: / * File system: Ext4 {#storage-discovery-examples__ul_nwq_dpq_mz} |
| /dev/mapper/lvm-root-333-0 | Linux logical volume, mapped with LVM to a physical disk storage partition. | * \[cmdb_ci_storage_device\] * \[cmdb_ci_storage_volume\] * \[cmdb_ci_file_system\] * \[cmdb_ci_storage_pool\] * \[cmdb_ci_storage_pool_member\] * \[cmdb_ci_lvm_pool\] * \[cmdb_ci_lvm_pool_member\]\[cmdb_rel_ci\] {#storage-discovery-examples__ul_ohx_4nq_mz} | \[cmdb_rel_ci\] * Provides: /dev/sda * Provided by:/dev/mapper/lvm-root-333-0 {#storage-discovery-examples__ul_edp_hpq_mz} |
| /dev/mapper/lvm-root-333-0 | Linux logical volume, mapped with LVM to a physical disk storage partition. | * \[cmdb_ci_storage_device\] * \[cmdb_ci_storage_volume\] * \[cmdb_ci_file_system\] * \[cmdb_ci_storage_pool\] * \[cmdb_ci_storage_pool_member\] * \[cmdb_ci_lvm_pool\] * \[cmdb_ci_lvm_pool_member\]\[cmdb_rel_ci\] {#storage-discovery-examples__ul_ohx_4nq_mz} | \[cmdb_ci_storage_pool_member\] * Pool: /dev/mapper/lvm-root-333-0 * Storage: /dev/sda2 {#storage-discovery-examples__ul_rlb_npq_mz} |
[Table 1. CIs and relationships created for direct attached storage (DAS)]

{#storage-discovery-examples__table_t5y_fgq_mz}

## Multipath fibre channel storage {#storage-discovery-examples__section_g2r_zmz_mcb}

In this example of a fibre channel storage area network (SAN), two physical storage
devices, mpatha and mpathb, are attached to a
Linux host through fibre switches. The fibre switches provide failover capabilities. The
mpatha drive contains two partitions, mpatha1
and mpatha2. The first partition is mounted directly to
/boot on the Linux host. Three logical volumes are mapped to the
mpatha2 partition and to the physical device
mpathb. The logical volumes are mounted as Ext4 file systems in
folders on the Linux root structure. This example shows the CIs that Discovery manages for
each component and the mounting points for the logical volumes on the Linux host.  
Figure 2. Multipath fibre channel storage example

## Switched fibre fabric details {#storage-discovery-examples__section_b3v_qvg_5z}

Discovery creates CIs for the logical sub-components in NAS and SAN environments, such as
fibre channel disks and pool components. Discovery also creates CIs for host bus adapters (HBA) and physical
block storage. In multipath environments, Discovery creates CI relationships within the
switched fibre fabrics that connects the Linux host to the physical storage devices. In this
diagram, the fibre fabrics have redundant paths that the SAN environment can use for
failover if connections fail.  
Figure 3. Fibre fabric redundant paths