Using Families and Groups in the Tree View
Families are important elements of the IAACU. They specify the parameters that the
IAACU uses to automatically categorize discovered appliances and to configure
them with the appropriate network settings. Family rules are defined solely by
appliance type or purpose. Each Family can contain only one type of appliance.
The only way to automatically apply predetermined network settings to newly
installed and discovered appliances is to create and use Families.
Appliances that match the rules criteria for a Family group can be automatically
configured to use predefined network settings. A Family can be configured to allow
appliances to use DHCP to configure their IP settings, or can be defined to
automatically assign IP settings (such as primary gateway and DNS server
addresses, assigning an IP address from a specified IP address range, and
specifying a subnet mask). Host names for discovered appliances can also be
defined so that they are allocated using either a prefix or appliance serial number.
The IAACU is not the only way to configure network settings. For example, network
settings can be configured using Terminal Services for Windows or by attaching a
keyboard and mouse to the appliance and using Windows Control Panel. If the
appliance network settings have been configured by a method other than using the
IAACU, the appliance will be discovered by the IAACU and it will be added to an
appropriate Family, if one exists. Appliances that have been configured using a
method other than the IAACU for which no appropriate family exists will appear in
the Orphaned Externally Configured Appliances group.
The Tree View Panel contains the following items:
v All Appliances
Every discovered appliance is listed in the tree view under All Appliances.
v Families
The Families group in the Tree View Pane shows all Families that have been
defined, with appliances that have already been assigned to each Family nested
beneath the Family name in the tree view. Families are defined by appliance
purpose, so all appliances that appear in a given family are of the same type. If
you select a Family from the Tree View Pane, a description of the Family and the
rules that are used to define the selected Family appear in the Information Pane.
If you select an appliance from a Family in the Tree View Pane, the selected
appliance network settings appear in the Information Pane.
If you are not using DHCP, the IAACU automatically assigns one IP address per
appliance, using available addresses within the range defined in the Family rules.
When the IP address range for the Family has been exhausted, the IAACU
automatically searches for other Families that have rules matching the appliance
being configured. If a matching Family with an available address is found, the
appliance will automatically be assigned to the Family that has available IP
addresses. This enables you to define multiple Families, each of which uses a
set of noncontiguous IP address ranges.
When an appliance is discovered on the network, the IAACU automatically
searches all previously defined Families, starting with the first Family listed in the
Families tree view and moving downward. Appliances are automatically added to
the first defined Family that matches the appliance purpose. Therefore, the order
in which Families appear is important. To adjust this search order, right-click a
Family and then select Move Up or Move Down to adjust its position within the
Families list.
v Orphaned Appliances
Chapter 2. Configuration and administration tools
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