Simplifying IT with Network Inventory – Finding the Right Software Inventory Software
What every IT professional needs to know about network inventory Therefore, you were given the task of setting up a network inventory to better manage your network. If you are not an experienced network administrator or IT professional, this can be quite a daunting task. A quick search for “network inventory” takes you to many apps that will help you get an accurate inventory; some are free, others expensive. So how can you know what will work best for you?
What exactly is a “network inventory”? In a nutshell, a network inventory is a list of devices such as computers, routers, servers, and printers that are connected to your network. The amount of detail you collect about these assets will depend on what you are using to collect the inventory and whether the collector has administrator access.
At the simplest level, a network inventory is a basic list of devices. However, as you get more involved, it can evolve to contain detailed information about installed software, applied hotfixes, Windows events, serial numbers, and much more.
How can software inventory software help me manage network assets? If you’re in the IT space, having an accurate network inventory is important. For example, keeping track of what software is connected to your network can save you time, money, and bandwidth. A quality software inventory software will allow you to keep track of software licenses to ensure that it is compliant. Knowing who has which licenses can help with loss prevention.
Convenience plays a role, too: It can be annoying when an employee tells you they have a software problem but doesn’t provide any information. With a good network inventory in place, you can look around and see what annoying software you installed and address the problem quickly.
So how do you collect a network inventory? There are two main ways network inventory collectors work: scanning devices through a scanning agent or through an agentless scanner.
Scanning agents must be deployed on each computer on your network. When in place, these agents scan the computer and report back to a central database with the information they have collected.
On the plus side, scanning agents don’t have to connect to a device to scan it, so you don’t have to worry about firewalls and antivirus programs blocking the connection. All you need to do is make sure it is set to the correct admin level and can connect to the central installation.
On the downside, you’ll need to install the agent on all computers on your network and update them all when new versions are released.
Agentless scanners do not require anything to be installed on every device on your network, as all devices are scanned from a central facility. If your network is properly configured and maintained, using an agentless scanner can be much easier.
Can a network inventory include multiple networks? If your business manages networks across multiple sites, you’ll need to make sure you can get a reliable inventory snapshot for each site. This can be done in a number of ways, including using a simple agentless scanner over a VPN connection, or using remote scanners that will report back to a central facility. Scanning over a VPN can significantly slow down your network traffic, so if you want to run a scan during business hours, make sure you use a remote scanning solution.