How does ServiceNow Discovery differentiate between physical and virtual devices?

ServiceNow Discovery differentiates between physical and virtual devices primarily by examining configuration item (CI) attributes and leveraging data from the discovered sources. This involves analyzing specific attributes associated with different types of devices; for instance, virtual machines often have characteristics distinct from physical servers, such as the presence of hypervisors or differences in how resources are reported.

When Discovery scans the network, it gathers detailed information about each device, including its hardware characteristics, software configurations, and relationships with other components within the IT environment. This comprehensive analysis allows ServiceNow to classify devices accurately, enabling better management and organization of the data center assets.

Methods such as analyzing network speed or checking server response times are not reliable indicators for distinguishing between physical and virtual devices. Physical and virtual machines can exhibit similar performance metrics, making those approaches less effective. Instead, focusing on CI attributes provides a clearer and more precise identification of the device type.