Computer inventory management: Keep an eye on your IT with PRTG
Document your entire IT inventory
Auto discovery to take inventory of your system
Monitor Active Directory, Windows Services, and updates
Increase the transparency of your IT infrastructure and networks
Prevent network errors before they arise
Computer inventory management is used to inventory devices and systems. It guarantees that you maintain a complete and accurate record of all the devices and systems in your IT infrastructure. The most important task of computer inventory management is to increase the transparency of your infrastructure and networks.
Computer inventory management lays the foundation for precise monitoring by (among other things) excluding unnecessary systems from your monitoring environment.
What is computer inventory management?
Computer inventory management refers to the management of computer, software, and system inventories. It involves the implementation of tried-and-tested processes that provide companies with an exhaustive overview of their infrastructure. After all, when it comes to complex infrastructures, it’s not always easy to keep an eye on everything.
Infrastructures contain a large number of systems such as employee computers (on-site and remote), servers, storage devices, routers, switches, and printers. A company infrastructure also includes software, files, directories, device drivers, user groups, credentials, and more.
Computer inventory management tasks include the following:
Taking inventory of systems in the network
Monitoring systems in the network
Optimizing the network with best practices
The benefits of meticulous computer inventory management
By knowing what is connected to your company network, you can:
- set up comprehensive monitoring so you don’t miss a thing;
- prevent systems or operational processes from crashing;
- quickly get to the roots of problems;
- significantly reduce time spent troubleshooting;
- use the collected data to optimize your network.
This 360-degree approach allows you to offer outstanding service to the employees, customers, and other people who make use of your IT.
Your network monitoring at a glance
PRTG is set up in a matter of minutes and can be used on a wide variety of mobile devices.
How does PRTG help with computer inventory management?
With PRTG, you can do away with multiple inventory apps for your computers.
PRTG comes with a variety of functions and features that let you customize your computer inventory management:
In PRTG, “sensors” are the basic monitoring elements. One sensor usually monitors one measured value in your network, e.g. the traffic of a switch port, the CPU load of a server, the free space of a disk drive. On average you need about 5-10 sensors per device or one sensor per switch port. How PRTG defines sensors
Detailed overview thanks to the Auto Discovery feature
PRTG comes with a handy Auto Discovery feature which is automatically launched upon installing the monitoring software. As a result, you’ll quickly obtain a comprehensive summary of all the devices and systems that are connected to and accessible within your corporate network.
Monitor files and folders with PRTG sensors
PRTG not only monitors systems, but also files and folders. In fact, the software comes with preconfigured sensors for this purpose. The File Sensor lets you monitor a file that is located on a parent system (for example). PRTG also tracks changes to the content and timestamps of files. The Folder Sensor monitors folders via the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol.
Monitor Active Directory
PRTG also monitors your Active Directory to provide you with precise, real-time information on users, user groups, and failed or successful login attempts. Among other things, its Microsoft Azure sensors can be used for this purpose.
Monitor Windows Services and updates
With PRTG, you can also incorporate Windows Services and updates into your monitoring environment. Simply use the WMI Service, SNMP Windows Service, or Windows Updates Status (PowerShell) Sensor.
Improve corporate and network security
PRTG acts as an early warning system: by monitoring your systems and networks, you’ll also improve your IT infrastructure and therefore your corporate security management. PRTG monitors every aspect of your network around the clock – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Problems with firewalls are detected immediately. And in the event of an incident (e.g., a malware attack related to a sudden spike in bandwidth), PRTG automatically notifies you at once.
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“Fantastic network and infrastructure monitoring solution that is easy to deploy and easier still to use. Simply the best available.”
“Software is absolutely perfect, Support is superior. Meets all needs and requirements, this is a must have solution if you are needing any form of monitoring.”
“The tool excels at its primary focus of being a unified infrastructure management and network monitoring service.”
Precise reporting for computer inventory management
Event logging is the foundation of computer inventory management. Log generation is a default feature in PRTG. As a log analyzer, PRTG provides the following advantages for your reporting:

Track past incidents
You can check the exact time of previous errors under “Logs” > “Errors.” You can also check the history of a specific sensor in the data table report, which records the date and time of both normal and abnormal conditions.

Promptly detect critical events
With PRTG, sensors can be configured in advance such that you’re immediately informed in the event of a disruption or other anomaly. These alerts – which can be sent by email, SMS, or push notification – allow you to quickly take action before more serious problems arise.
PRTG: The Swiss Army knife for sysadmins
Adapt PRTG individually and dynamically to your needs and rely on a strong API:- HTTP API: Access monitoring data and manipulate monitoring objects via HTTP requests
- Custom sensors: Create your own PRTG sensors for customized monitoring
- Custom notifications: Create your own notifications and send action triggers to external systems
- REST Custom sensor: Monitor almost everything that provides data in XML or JSON format
Create innovative solutions with Paessler’s IT partners
Partnering with innovative IT vendors, Paessler unleashes synergies to create
new and additional benefits for joined customers.
With ScriptRunner, Paessler integrates a powerful event automation platform into PRTG Network Monitor.
ScriptRunner
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Paessler PRTG is used by companies of all sizes. Sysadmins love PRTG because it makes their job a whole lot easier.
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PRTG |
Network Monitoring Software - Version 22.4.81.1532 (November 29th, 2022) |
Hosting |
Download for Windows and cloud-based version PRTG Hosted Monitor available |
Languages |
English, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese |
Pricing |
Up to 100 sensors for free (Price List) |
Unified Monitoring |
Network devices, bandwidth, servers, applications, virtual environments, remote systems, IoT, and more |
Supported Vendors & Applications |
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