Fast Path

The Device Discovery App is designed for scheduled, recurring execution to support ongoing inventory validation. In most environments, the majority of devices do not change platform, credentials, or identity attributes between runs. Fast Path takes advantage of this by bypassing redundant SSH discovery phases when SNMP has already confirmed a device's identity, significantly reducing runtime for recurring scans.

Fast Path applies only to SSH collection workflows. SNMP discovery always runs the same way regardless of this setting.

When Fast Path Is Useful

Enable Fast Path for mature production environments with stable credentials, periodic compliance or inventory scans, and high-scale discovery runs where reducing SSH overhead matters.

Avoid Fast Path if credential rotation is frequent, platform migration is ongoing, devices are frequently replaced (RMA), or you are still in the initial onboarding phase.

How It Works

In a standard discovery cycle without Fast Path, the app runs SNMP, then performs SSH platform discovery, iterates through credentials (password discovery), and finally collects structured data over SSH. This is thorough but slow, especially at scale.

With Fast Path enabled, the app checks whether it can skip the platform and password discovery phases entirely. After the SNMP scan completes, the system compares the SNMP-discovered identity (platform, hostname, serial number) against the values already stored in the database. If all three match exactly, and the last SSH collection was successful with valid credentials already on file, the app jumps straight to SSH data collection — no platform auto-detection, no credential iteration.

Attribute	Must Match Stored Value?
Platform	Yes
Hostname	Yes
Serial Number	Yes

Additionally, the last SSH collection must have been successful and valid SSH credentials must already be associated with the Discovered Device.

Failure Handling

Fast Path includes built-in remediation logic. If direct SSH collection fails during a Fast Path run — for example, because the device hardware was replaced, the platform changed, credentials drifted, or an OS upgrade affected the network driver — the app marks SSH as Not Reachable and automatically disables Fast Path for the next scheduled run. The next execution performs full discovery (including platform and password discovery), corrects the stored state, and makes the device eligible for Fast Path again on subsequent runs.

This self-correcting behavior means there are no permanent false assumptions, no manual intervention required, and automatic recovery from topology or hardware drift.

Performance Impact

In environments with stable credentials, rare platform drift, and high device counts, Fast Path can significantly reduce execution time by eliminating password iteration loops, avoiding platform auto-detection, and reducing connection negotiation cycles. In large-scale deployments, this can reduce execution windows from hours to minutes depending on concurrency settings.