REPRINTED FROM SC MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2002

What type of auditing solution you go for will depend solely on your security policy and how you wish to track assets
and their use in your network. Some enterprises may already have a hardware asset tracking solution and be looking
to employ a software metering solution. Products come in various guises, with software and hardware asset tracking
and metering as standard, while other solutions provide a variety of options to the administrator.
The solutions we looked at provided a few options but one particular solution struck us as the most comprehensive
in our tests. This was Centennial Discovery, providing us with a clear choice for our Best Buy. It offers an array of
features for tracking both hardware and software, across a LAN (local area network) or a WAN (wide area network)
and it didn’t forget about standalone PCs in the enterprise or laptops that were continually on the move.

SECURE Computing Best Buy server-based tool; the client agents are de-
ployed using login scripts or via email, de-

Centennial p ending on your a dministra tor’s

preference. Once installed, an inventory

Discovery can be run to start getting a picture of your

Audit solutions as we’ve said can cover an
array of different asset-tracking options,
and Centennial Discovery, like some of the
others, tracks both hardware and
software. In this way you can get a real
picture of what is on your network, if it’s
used, when it’s used and of course, if any
changes are made to it.
Centennial Discovery ensures that you
know what assets you own and where they
are. Everyone is talking about the enemy
within, but in order to combat the risks,
businesses must know what’s what and have
their finger on the pulse if they are to take
this security breach seriously. By utilizing a
network-based inventory management tool
like Centennial Discovery an administrator
can see everything he or she needs to in order
to protect company interests.
In order to keep an adequate inventory
you need to know the physical
whereabouts of your IT equipment. You
need to know how much memory it has,
what it’s connected to and what software
is running on it. Centennial Discovery is a
entire network. Where standalone
machines are kept, laptops come and go
from the office or where login scripts aren’t
run, the administrator can still ensure they
are logged into the audit by using a floppy
disk to gather the information and then
feeding it to Centennial Discovery.
To save on time and manpower,
Centennial Discovery allows hardware to be
registered by location. This is accomplished
as the LANProbe identifies the network cable
that the device is connected to. If it’s moved
the LANProbe identifies the new cable
Version: 4.3 connection and‘hey presto’ you know where
Supplier: Centennial UK limited the equipment has been moved to. Whether
Price: £14 per PC (500 PCs)
Contact: +44 (0)1 793 344055 on the LAN or WAN or across the Internet,
info@centennial.co.uk Centennial Discovery enables a full inven-
www.centennial.co.uk tory to be kept and it supports this through
remote access servers.
FOR Excellent package that allows both hardware and
software asset tracking. Software licences are easily checked
against software use and where use exceeds
AGAINST Nothing. the number of licences an alarm is raised
so that the administrator can remedy the
VERDICT For tracking both hardware and software
across LAN, WAN, and standalone PCs owned by your shortfall. The repository provides all the
business, Centennial Discovery is an asset in itself. information and this can be found at the
Centennial Discovery Control Centre. It is
Features ★★★★★ here that audits can be scheduled, reports
Ease of use ★★★★★
Performance ★★★★★ can be generated and your asset tracking
Documentation ★★★★★ can be shared with other vital business
Support ★★★★★ tools. In all this proved to be an easy to
Value for money ★★★★★ use and very useful form of hardware and
Overall Rating ★★★★★
software tracking.

Contact information:

Centennial UK Limited
Vicarage Court
160 Ermin Street
Swindon, Wiltshire, SN3 4NE
Tel: +44 (0) 1793 344055 Fax: +44 (0) 1793 344050
E-mail: info@centennial.co.uk Internet: www.centennial.co.uk

© Copyright West Coast Publishing 2002

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