Network Inventory Management

Why Trust Techopedia

What Does Network Inventory Management Mean?

Network inventory management is the process of keeping records of all the IT or network assets that make up the network.

Advertisements

It enables network administrators/businesses to have a physical record of all IT and network equipment within the organization.

Techopedia Explains Network Inventory Management

Network inventory management is generally performed to through IT asset tracking software that scans, compiles and records data about each device/node over a network.

Network inventory management may include:

  • Number of routers, their make, type and place of installation, serial number
  • IP addresses of all devices/nodes, IP addressing scheme used
  • Number and type of software along with license keys and expiry dates

This data helps businesses with:

  • Network size estimation
  • Network capacity planning
  • Network cost/ROI estimation
  • Physical network administration (to deal with device/equipment loss and theft)
Advertisements

Related Terms

Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.