Network Inventory scanning and Management
2020 was a year of great uncertainty in the IT world. As the nature of work changed, business priorities have changed as well. These changes make it even more important to rethink requirements and determine which network scanning tools are right for the organization.
What is network inventory scanning and management?
Network inventory management is the process of keeping records of all IT or network assets that make up a network. IT inventory management helps the administrator stay up to date with information about the software and hardware used in the organization. Manually compiling and reconciling IT resources is a very hard process. Desktop Central’s web-based IT inventory management solution not only helps automate this task, but also provides ready-made network inventory reports.It is necessary not to underestimate the importance of network inventory management. By not keeping track of IT resources and network assets, it is possible to lose sight of what kind of devices are present on network, what their configurations are, when software licenses expire. When the networks were smaller, this process could be controlled manually, but now companies and their networks are growing rapidly.So, there is the task of configuring network inventory to better manage the network. This can be quite a difficult task. A quick search for “web inventory” leads to many applications that can help to get an accurate inventory – some free, others expensive.
Pressure Points for Manual network scanning
Failure to deploy the network scanner software can adversely affect the network, such as no visibility of the subnet hierarchy, the use of IP addresses, and DHCP server configurations. Managing network manually can be costly and inefficient. Additional disadvantages of manual network management include:
- Data is prone to human error: tracking manually can be ineffective because measures such as spreadsheets can cause inconsistencies and errors such as IP address allocation conflicts. While these errors are minor at first, they can lead to costly network downtime if not addressed.
- Lack of real-time information. Manual network management methods cannot provide real-time status of network resources such as port availability and IP address usage. In addition, real-time tracking of the entire network address space and switch ports becomes difficult and time-consuming in networks with subnet-based hierarchies and dynamic IP address allocations.
- Unlimited user access. When multiple users manage the network using spreadsheets, there is little visibility into who and when made changes to the data.
How Can network scanning Help to Manage Network Assets?
In an IT environment, it is important to have a thorough network inventory. High-quality software inventory software will allow keep track of software licenses to make sure all the rules are followed. Convenience also plays a role: it can be annoying when an employee says he has a software problem but gives no information. When there is a good network inventory, it is possible to check what software has been installed and the problem can be fixed quickly.It is necessary to have a powerful network scanner that gives real-time insight into network events and resources. Network scanning software should remove the need for a complex command line interface as it provides an intuitive user interface for network scanning without the need for code.
Significant Features of Network scanning
Companies rely on networks for everything they do. Therefore, network monitoring is very important for any business. Today, networks span the globe, with multiple communication channels between geographically dispersed data centers, public and private clouds. This creates many problems in network management. Network administrators need to be more proactive and flexible in monitoring network performance. However, this is easier said than done. The following features of inventory tools are important for users:
- powerful visualization;
- integration with other tools;
- agentless auto-discoveries;
- data and process integration across teams and other departments.
How to choose a network Scanning Tools?
Network scanning is a process that can be defined in different ways, it identifies active hosts (clients and servers) on the network and their actions that may hack the network. It is also used by hackers to compromise system security.In short, the network scanning process includes:
• identifying filtering systems between two active hosts on the network;
• starting UDP and TCP network services;
• detecting the TCP sequence number of both hosts.
Network scanning also refers to port scanning where data packets are sent to a specific port number.Below pie chart shows what is the most important for a network scanner tool:
Price:Free network scanners are attractive because they give businesses the visibility, they need to grow at a very attractive price of exactly zero dollars. It is important to remember not to expect free network scanners to match paid network scanners when it comes to features and customer support. The best concession is to have network scanners with a flexible pricing and free trial version.
Compatibility: Networks have never been more complex than they are today, so choosing a network scanner that can inventory every connected device is critical.
Support:Many companies, which would like to have free network scanners, do not realize the importance of customer service. When a company chooses a network scanner, it should also be able to use it without too much trouble. Network administrators welcome the opportunity to pick up the phone and contact customer support when they have a problem, rather than looking for an answer in the manual.
Why do we recommend SimplyScan?
SimplyScan, our IT Inventory software, an agentless inventory module, is designed for automatic detection and scanning of IP devices (PCs, servers and SNMP devices) connected to the network.The SimplyScan network inventory software increases productivity with the Scan & GO concept, making it possible to use SimplyDesk without prior configuration or inventory. There are many reasons to use SimplyScan for network scanning:
• It is easy to implement.
• Scans multiple businesses, sites and networks.
• Automatic inventory of your IT infrastructure without agents.
• Automatic creation of workstations (PCs, monitors, printers).
• Automatic allocation to users via Active Directory.
• View installed hardware and software components.
• Proactive alerts on detected changes between two scans.
SimplyScan has thus been particularly designed for simple, fast and efficient implementation.
