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MID Server selection

You can configure MID Server selection by application, IP address ranges, network capability, or behavior. Specific MID Servers can be assigned to particular tasks, or the MID Server can be selected automatically. MID Servers can use domain separation to limit the scope of discoveries and event management.

MID Server criteria

MID Servers offer these types of criteria that help an application determine which MID Server to use:

Application: The application that you specify on the MID Server. You can designate these applications for a specific MID Server:
- Discovery
- Orchestration
- Service Mapping
- Event Management
- Operational Intelligence
- Cloud Management
An ALL application option is also available. By default, this option includes all applications. You can configure which applications are included in the ALL designation.
IP address or range: The IP address or the IP ranges that the MID Server is allowed to work within. You can specify an IP address or IP range in the application, such as on a Discovery schedule or an Orchestration activity, and for the MID Server. If the IP configured in the application matches the IP address or falls within the allowable IP range configured on the MID Server, a match is possible, and that MID Server passes this criteria. To have the instance automatically assign IP ranges (subnets) to available MID Servers, see Using MID Server IP range auto-assignment.
Capabilities: The network capability an application needs to use, such as the PowerShell Orchestration activity or the Flow Designer PowerShell step. Some applications, like Cloud Management, require a specific capability.
Note: Discovery and Service Mapping can also use behaviors, which determine the type of port probes used during the port scan phase of Discovery. Both Discovery and Service Mapping use a behavior to discover load balancers running on Linux. Other applications do not use behaviors. Behaviors are not used for auto-selection, default MID Servers, or specific MID Servers as described below. See Discovery behaviors for more information.

How an application selects a MID Server

If you do not specify a specific MID Server for an application to use, the application tries to select one. Each application relies on different criteria to select an appropriate MID Server.


Application	Supported Application on the MID Server	IP address range	Capability
Discovery (Select Auto-Select MID Server on the Discovery schedule)	The Discovery or ALL application must be specified on the MID Server.	Discovery uses IP ranges that you configure on the Discovery Schedule form to see if they fall within the IP ranges that you configure on the MID Server, or the ALL IP ranges option must be selected on the MID Server.	N/A Note: Any configured behaviors are ignored.
Orchestration	The Orchestration or ALL application must be specified on the MID Server.	The target IP address that you configure in an Orchestration activity must fall within the IP ranges that you configure on the MID Server, or the ALL option must be selected on the MID Server.	The capability that is required for an Orchestration activity must match the capabilities you configure on the MID Server, or the MID Server capability must be set to ALL.
Service Mapping	The Service Mapping or ALL application must be specified on the MID Server.	The endpoint IP address must fall within the IP range that you configure on the MID Server, or the ALL option must be selected on the MID Server.	One of the supported Service Mapping capabilities (for new installs) must be configured on the MID Server, or the MID Server capability must be set to ALL.
Event Management	The Event Management or ALL application must be specified on the MID Server.	The IP configured in the event connector instances, such as HPOM, must fall within the IP range configured on the MID Server.
Cloud Management	N/A	N/A	The Cloud Management or ALL capability must be added.

Using a specific MID Server

Discovery and Event Management can use a MID Server that you specifically call out.

Note: Selecting a specific MID Server is not the same as specifying the default MID Server for an application. A specific MID Server is always used. If it is Down or not validated, the application does not execute commands against the MID Server. A default MID Server is fallback that is used when the auto-selection of MID Servers does not find any eligible MID Server.


Application	How you specify a specific MID Server	Criteria that the default MID Server must meet
Discovery	Choose the MID Server on the Discovery schedule. Note: You an also specify a cluster of MID Servers.	If you select a MID Server without the Discovery or ALL application, it automatically adds the Discovery application.
Orchestration	N/A	N/A
Service Mapping	N/A	N/A
Event Management	Choose one or more MID Servers on the connector instance event collection, such as HPOM.	N/A
Cloud Management	N/A	N/A

Note: If a MID Server manages resources within defined IP ranges for Orchestration, you must map the fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of a server with its IP address to run certain activities, such as Exchange activities.

Domain separation

If you are using domain separation, you can configure MID Servers to be in separate domains. The domain that the MID Server is in affects how the application selects the domain:

Discovery and Service Mapping: On the Discovery schedule, the MID Servers and clusters that available for selection are limited to the same domain of the user who is configuring the schedule. This also applies to the auto-selection option: only MID Servers in the same domain as the user can be automatically selected.