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4-2
Getting Started with Cisco Network Assistant
OL-6194-07
Chapter 4 Planning and Creating Communities
Planning a Community
Community Device Limit
The combined number of Catalyst switches, Cisco access routers, and PIX firewalls in a community cannot
exceed 40. There are no limits on individual device types. There is no limit on the number of Cisco Aironet
Access Points.
Note Even though the devices in a Catalyst 3750 switch stack function as a single switch, they count
as individual switches against the combined limit and individual device limits.
If the limit of 40 devices is exceeded, you cannot manage a community. You need to remove devices so
that the total is not more than 40.
There is no limit to the number of communities that Network Assistant can manage.
Automatic Discovery of Candidates and Members
Beginning with the IP address for a starting device and the port numbers for the HTTPS and HTTP
protocols, Network Assistant uses CDP to compile a list of community candidates that are within
four
CDP hops of the starting device. Network Assistant can discover candidate and member devices
across multiple networks and VLANs if they have valid IP addresses. See the
“Candidate and Member
Characteristics” section on page 4-1 for a list of requirements that network devices must meet in order
to be discovered.
Note Do not disable CDP on candidates, members, or any network devices that you might want Network
Assistant to discover.
You can edit the list of discovered devices to fit your needs and to add them to the community. If Network
Assistant does not discover a network device, you can manually add the device.
For instructions on adding discovered devices to a community or manually adding devices to a
community, see the
“Manually Adding Members” section on page 4-4.
Community Names
When you create a community, Network Assistant requires that you assign a name to it. The name can
contain up to 64 alphanumeric characters and is not case sensitive.
Note When you select a name in the Connect window and a cluster and a community share that name, Network
Assistant connects to the community.
Hostnames
You do not need to assign a hostname to a community member, and Network Assistant does not assign
one by default. However, Cisco IOS assigns the hostname Switch to switches without a hostname.
Therefore, you might want to assign hostnames to switches to avoid confusing them.