Patent ID: 8200806

Claim:
A computer-implementable method for performing an auto discovery operation on a network, the network comprising a Virtual Tape Server (VTS) system, the method comprising: performing a broadcast function, the broadcast function comprising: broadcasting a discovery message of a known protocol on a network; monitoring for responses to the discovery message; and requesting configuration information from each component responding to the discovery message; for each responding component: if the responding component responds successfully, then adding the address of the responding component to an attached systems list; if the responding component responds unsuccessfully, then adding the address of the responding component to a do not attach list; and, performing a listening function, the listening function comprising: monitoring the network for communication from unknown addresses having packets that follow specific patterns; when a communication on the network including packets that follow the specific patterns is identified, identifying an address of an originating component of the communication; sending a request to the originating component corresponding to the address for configuration information; if the originating component responds successfully, then adding the address to the attached systems list; and, if the originating component responds unsuccessfully, then adding the address of the component to the do not attach list.