Managing multiple collectors

We recommend giving each of your collectors a description so you can easily identify them.

Multiple collectors on a single network can be great for failover, as long as each collector can talk to all subnets on the network. If one collector goes offline, the other immediately takes over scanning (provided the network is configured that way).

You can manage your collectors from Discovery > Manage Networks when adding new networks or editing existing networks.

From either the Add Network or Edit Network form, you can decide whether choosing an Auvik collector for a particular network should be automatic or manual.

• Choosing automatic means Auvik decides which collector to use for the subnet. If that collector goes offline, the other running collector (as long as it can talk to the subnet) picks up scanning.

But if the collectors are on different subnets that aren’t able to communicate, each collector continues to manage its subnet only. In other words, if the collector for subnet A goes offline, the collector for subnet B doesn’t take over scanning.

• Choosing manual means you get to pick the collector you want for the subnet. Optionally, you can also select which of the other collectors on the network are on standby (backup) for the primary collector.

If the secondary collector goes offline and a tertiary collector has been defined, the tertiary collector takes over. Each standby collector should be assigned a priority so Auvik knows which one should take over first when the primary collector goes offline.

Note: When you assign multiple collectors, you MUST ensure they have access to the subnets you are setting them to scan. Leaving the collector set to automatic can trigger false alerts if the collector does not have access to scan those subnets.

Once the primary collector comes back online, it takes over from either the secondary or tertiary collector.

When following the instructions in How to add a network you want scanned or How to edit a single network, complete these steps when choosing the manual selection option.

1. From the Auvik Collector Selection dropdown, select Manual.
2. From the Primary Collector dropdown, select the primary collector.
3. Optional: Check Add Standby Collector(s).
4. From the Standby Collector(s) dropdown, select the standby collector. Set the priority for the collector.
5. To have a tertiary standby collector, click the + sign to select another collector and set the priority.
6. Click Save.

For the automatic selection option, nothing needs to be changed.

Collector failover and reassignment behavior

Manually assigned primary + secondary collectors

When you explicitly configure a primary collector with one or more secondary collectors, Auvik maintains the primary collector as the preferred assignment for the subnet.

If the primary collector goes offline, Auvik automatically fails over to one of the configured secondary collectors so monitoring continues uninterrupted.

Once the primary collector comes back online and is considered healthy again, Auvik automatically reassigns the subnet back to the primary collector.

This behavior ensures:

• Predictable collector ownership
• Automatic failover protection
• Automatic recovery back to the preferred collector

Automatically assigned collectors

If multiple collectors are deployed but you have not explicitly configured primary and secondary collectors, Auvik uses automatic assignment logic.

For subnets configured with Automatic assignment:

• Auvik selects a collector that can successfully communicate with (“see”) the subnet.
• If multiple eligible collectors are available, Auvik selects the oldest collector based on its creationDate.

To minimize unnecessary reassignment and data churn:

• If the currently assigned collector is still:

  • online, and
  • able to communicate with the subnet

  then Auvik keeps the existing assignment.

This means that when another collector later comes back online, Auvik does not automatically switch the subnet back if the currently assigned collector is still functioning properly.

This behavior helps provide assignment stability in environments with multiple eligible collectors.