Storage discovery

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 3 minutes to read
    • Summarize
    Summarized using AI
    This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete.

    Summary of Storage discovery

    Storage discovery in ServiceNow’s Zurich release enables automated collection and mapping of storage infrastructure data, including Direct Attached Storage (DAS), Storage Area Networks (SAN), and Network Attached Storage (NAS). It supports discovery on specialized devices (Storage Arrays, Fibre Channel Switches, iSCSI disks) and host operating systems such as Windows, Linux, and Solaris. The process maps storage dependencies and creates configuration items (CIs) and relationships in the CMDB, providing visibility into physical and virtual storage components.

    Show full answer Show less

    Key Features

    • Discovers a wide range of storage types: DAS, NAS, SAN, and virtual storage for VMware ESX and Linux KVM environments.
    • Supports discovery via host systems, reconciling file systems with local and networked storage devices.
    • Utilizes Storage Management Initiative Specification (SMI-S) and Common Information Model (CIM) protocols for SAN and NAS discovery.
    • Builds detailed CI relationships, including exports/imports between storage components, Fibre Channel disks, iSCSI disks, and file systems.
    • Includes specialized probes and sensors tailored for different operating systems and storage environments, such as Windows (various versions), Linux, Solaris, VMware ESX, and NetApp storage clusters.
    • Supports Veritas Volume Manager discovery on Linux, mapping volumes, disk groups, and plexes to file systems.
    • Enables management of large storage payloads on Linux and Solaris by serializing processing to prevent memory issues.

    Requirements

    • Windows: Supports Windows Server 2008 and 2012 with DAS or NAS storage over Fibre Channel or iSCSI. Requires installation of tools like fcinfo.exe, WMI, PowerShell, and optionally Windows Remote Management (WinRM). MID Server and target hosts must be in the same domain or trusted hosts list. Proper credentials for discovery must be provided.
    • Linux and Solaris: Supports Solaris, CentOS, and Ubuntu with DAS, NAS, or SAN storage via iSCSI or Fibre Channel. SSH credentials with root or sudo access are required, along with MID Server credentials.

    Relationships and Data Collected

    The discovery creates and maintains relationships between storage components in the CMDB, such as:

    • Storage Exports and Imports
    • Storage Devices and Fibre Channel or iSCSI Disks
    • File Systems associated with disks

    It collects detailed CI data for file systems, disks, Fibre Channel HBAs and ports, Linux Logical Volume Manager (LVM) volumes, and Veritas Volume Manager components.

    Practical Customer Benefits

    • Gain comprehensive visibility into physical and virtual storage infrastructure across diverse environments.
    • Automatically populate and maintain accurate storage-related CIs and their dependencies in the CMDB.
    • Support IT operations, asset management, and troubleshooting by understanding storage topology and mappings.
    • Ensure discovery works effectively with multi-path storage configurations and large payloads, reducing risk of errors.
    • Leverage up-to-date patterns and probes to handle modern storage technologies, including NetApp clusters and VMware environments.

    Discovery collects information on Direct Attached Storage (DAS), Storage Area Networks (SAN), and Network Attached Storage (NAS).

    Storage can be located on specialized devices, such as Storage Arrays, Fibre Channel Switches, iSCSI disks, or on host operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and Solaris.

    Discovery finds and maps dependencies for the following types of storage:
    • Direct-attached storage (DAS), network-attached storage (NAS), or storage area network (SAN).
    • NAS or SAN storage that is discovered via a Storage Management Initiative Specification (SMI-S) and Common Information Model (CIM).
    • Virtual storage for VMware ESX servers and Linux Kernel-based Virtual Machines (KVM). Discovery maps this storage to the underlying physical storage.

    Discovery of storage via a host reconciles data and creates relationships between the host's file systems and associated local storage devices. The local storage devices represent the storage available to the host, whether it's directly attached or provided by Fibre Channel or iSCSI. This reconciliation assumes that the storage server has been discovered first.

    Note:
    Tape storage drivers are not discovered.
    Discovery collects and creates CIs in the CMDB for the following information:
    • File systems (local and NAS).
    • Disks (both SAN disks and DAS drives).
    • Fibre Channel (FC) HBAs and ports.
    • Linux Volume Manager (LVM) volumes. LVM volume data resides in the Storage Pool [cmdb_ci_storage_pool] table.
    • Veritas Volume Manager disks, subdisks, disk groups, plexes, and volumes.
    Note:
    For details about the discovery of direct attached or multipath block storage provisioned on a Linux host, see KB0622583.

    Probes, sensors, and patterns

    • KVM - Storage Pools: identifies storage attached to KVM virtual machines.
    • Linux - Storage: identifies storage attached to systems running the Linux operating system.
    • Solaris - Storage: identifies storage attached to systems running the Solaris operating system.
    • Windows - Storage 2008: identifies storage attached to systems running Windows 2008.
      • Windows - Storage 2008 - PS: identifies storage attached to systems running Windows 2008, using the PowerShell.
      • Windows - Storage 2008 - WMI: identifies storage attached to systems running Windows 2008, using WMI Runner.
    • Windows - Storage 2012: identifies storage attached to systems running Windows 2012 and later.
      • Windows - Storage 2012 - PS: identifies storage attached to Windows systems, using PowerShell.
      • Windows - Storage 2012 - WMI: identifies storage attached to Windows systems, using WMI Runner.
    • VMWare - vCenter ESX Hosts Storage: collects information about ESX servers and creates relationships from datastores to underlying disks.
    • Patterns for NetApp storage discovery:
      • NetApp 7-mode: finds NetApp servers via REST with two nodes.
      • NetApp cluster mode: finds NetApp servers via REST when more than two nodes are connected through a cluster interconnect switch.
      Note:
      For information on Probe to Pattern migration see the knowledge article KB0694477.

    Requirements

    Windows
    • Supports the following configurations:
      • Windows Server 2012, DAS or NAS with Fibre Channel (FC) or Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI).
      • Windows Server 2008, DAS or NAS with FC or iSCSI.
    • Install the fcinfo.exe tool on Windows 2008 and 2012 servers that attach to storage via FC.
    • Install Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI).
    • Enable Powershell on the MID Server host server.
    • Provide the instance with the necessary credentials to the host server.
    • Put the MID Server and the target machine in the same domain or add the target machine to the trusted host list on the MID Server machine.
    • Optionally, install Windows Remote Management (WinRM) on the host server to discover Fibre Channel information. WinRM is on by default for Windows 2012 and Windows 2016 machines, but not for Windows 2008.
    Linux
    • Supports the following configurations:
      • Solaris, DAS, NAS, or SAN with iSCSI
      • CentOS, DAS, NAS, or SAN with FC or iSCSI
      • Ubuntu Server, DAS, NAS, or SAN with iSCSI
    • Provide the device with SSH credentials that have root or sudo access.
    • Provide the MID Server with the necessary credentials to the host server.

    Relationships

    Discovery creates the following relationships for storage CIs:
    Parent Component Relationship Child Component
    Storage Export [cmdb_ci_storage_export] Exports to::Imports from Storage Device [cmdb_ci_storage_device]
    Fibre Channel Disk [cmdb_ci_fc_disk] Provides::Provided by File System [cmdb_ci_file_system]
    iSCSI Disk [cmdb_ci_iscsi_disk] Provides::Provided by File System [cmdb_ci_file_system]