Network Inventory

[backlash86]

Hey guys,

I'm in a big dilemma here, either im not searching for the right things and/or terms on google, or there is really nothing out there for me.

I am looking for a simple Network Inventory, Asset Inventory, Endpoint inventory system, that had a web interface to view and edit and ideally runs on some sort of database, mysql, mssql, oracle etc. Whether is runs an agent or not to probe the information is not much of a concern. Most of them use WMI.

My main issue is that the inventory system would require a people container that the assets could be assigned to. If custom fields can be created too would be a big asset. Any ideas? many thanks for your time. I've tried a few but always came up empty handed.

PS: Budget is not a concern.

Many thanks

[KillTheIrishman]

Spiceworks?

[smooth_criminal1990]

Spiceworks?

Good choice, it's free (not that this matters), and needs no extra software installing on Clients.

[backlash86]

Hey guys,

tried spiceworks, but its not as customizable and full of ads :( but used in 15 mins to be honest

[manroweb]

http://www.solarwinds.com/

[backlash86]

thanks, I've browsed the solarwinds, any suggested products?

[sc302 Veteran]

Track it

Emco network inventory

Altiris

What I can think of off the top.

[remixedcat]

solarwinds is $$$$$$$$$$$$$

[dmeags]

Foglight NMS might be a good option for you. The first 100 devices are free

http://www.quest.com/foglight-network-management-system/

[REM2000]

SYSAid is a good system, it's a helpdesk system with asset management, there is a free one which has a limit on the number, the licence for more is really cheap as well.

Works well.

[ESC@PE]

Definitely Spiceworks. We use it here and its great. Customizable, free, effective on a lot of different levels. Excellent inventory system and I'd recommend it to most small->medium range businesses. I dont even see alot of ads on it! Never had that complaint about it at all.

[cybertimber2008]

Spiceworks. Give it more than 15 minutes. It's very very customizable.

[MarkusDarkus]

SpiceWorks man. How can you not love it!?

[manroweb]

SpiceWorks man. How can you not love it!?

Can it be used for machines outside the Local LAN?

[offroadaaron]

lansweeper?

[backlash86]

Thanks for the replies guys. I evaluated a few suggestions, though spiceworks is powerful, it does not work over WAN links unfortunately. This is why i think an agent-based inventory system would be ideal.

Took a look at SysAid, pretty slick piece of software, though i do not require all the helpdesl functions as we already have a helpdesk that has the tools necessary. My searches still come up empty. As for lansweeper and spiceworks, they work good, but they need to scan on a large scale ip range, our pc's are scattered through out the network and cannot query all windows machines (that are not managed by my dept) every 24 hours.

[sc302 Veteran]

any solution you are wanting is going to be money.

Here are options that I know of that will support you because my company that has many clients, many different networks, none linked together all communicating over the wan, has or had.

http://www.levelplatforms.com Level Platforms. This is a server based solution that has a node at each site that communicates back to the main database server. It uses wmi to get information from that the scanning node gathers and sends off to the db server which alerts the tech or the techs responsible for the client.

http://www.kaseya.com Kaseya. This is a client node based solution, that gathers information and sends it to the db server and alerts the techs or tech responsible for the site or sites. This has other features other than simple reporting when something is down or there is an issue, but the basic features of what you are looking for is there. This is an alacarte solution, you buy what you want to be able to offer to your clients.

http://www.labtech.com Labtech. This is similar to Kaseya, it now integrates with connectwise, and eset will integrate with this as well. Some of the more useful features are that you can run apps in the background, stop executables and dlls in the background, troubleshoot and run removal utilities in the background without the user even knowing what is happening. You can also get screenshots easily to see what the users are doing. I believe this to be alacarte also.

http://www.altiris.com Altirs. This is more site based, but also has a client node that can communicate over the wan to a db server. There are many options, you just pick the option most suited to what you need. I do not believe it supports multiple private networks like the previous mentioned.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/system-center/configuration-manager-2012.aspx SCCM, this is wan based but only if you have it connected to your network. I do not believe that it supports private networks like the first 3 I have mentioned.

The first 3 are really designed for network solution providers to maintain multiple client sites with alert, reporting, and monitoring.

[c.grz]

I have spiceworks scanning 8 locations with no problem. As long as you can access the site from your PC; you can edit the IP ranges that spiceworks scans.

[Steffan]

Give LANDesk a try too. Not only can you do inventory, you can software, OS, patches deployments and remote control.

[manroweb]

I just found

centrastage, and it looks very slick and powerful.

It works over WAN using client agents on all remote machines.