After all active inference engines have completed their inference actions, Link and Connection Inference merges the results together to create a consolidated list of links and connections and writes this list to an XML file. Only the links in the merged links list are created when VNE-XML Import runs immediately following Link and Connection Inference.

That a link is inferred by an engine does not necessarily mean that it will be retained when the inference results are merged. In other words, it is possible for a link to be inferred by an inference engine but not be imported into the NetIM database. Because inference engines examine different network data, it is possible for inference engines to derive different, and sometimes conflicting results. In cases of disagreement between inference engines, the Link Inference Merge rules determine which links the adapter will create. In addition, the Link and Connection Inference adapter has some advanced options that impact how inference results are merged together.

The Link and Connection Inference Engine Discrepancy report identifies situations where inference engines disagree on link endpoints and notifies you which link(s) exist in the NetIM database.