Are you confused when reading your Resource Manager? How Many NIC's are there?

If you've ever looked at the Resource Manager for a computer resource, you will notice a listing for the Network Interface Cards (NICs). One example might be:

NIC 1: IP Address - 10.0.0.1
NIC 2: IP Address - 159.140.186.172 - The address that NS Uses

What is not very clear is why the IP address for the NIC that the NS talks to, and that I can PING, is NOT listed as the TOP or PRIMARY one?

Shedding Some Light

There is a stored procedure which, when the Resource Manager screen is selected, returns SORTED (this is very important) results.

When it comes to IP Addresses, 10.0.0.1 comes way before 159.140.186.172. This is why, even though it is not the IP address that the NS is communicating on, it appears to be the primary NIC.

For more technical details, see
http://kb.altiris.com/article.asp?article=31825&p=3