What Is the Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) and Why Use It

 By Charles Joseph | Cybersecurity Advocate

 Last update: November 25, 2023

The Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) enables the discovery of directly connected devices on a network. CDP is a proprietary Data Link Layer protocol used primarily on Cisco networking equipment.

The purpose of CDP is to allow network administrators to easily identify adjacent neighbors, find out what type they are (i.e., router, switch, or workstation), and identify their specific hardware and software versions.

This helps make it easier for administrators to troubleshoot possible connectivity problems as quickly as possible without having to manually go through every device to determine which one might be responsible for the problem and how it’s configured.