Scanning and auditing

Scanning and auditing serve different purposes. In most scenarios, scanning is the first step in analyzing your IT infrastructure. A network scan runs quickly and produces a list of discovered devices, allowing you to decide which devices to audit for detailed information and which can be ignored.

• Scan

  • Provides a quick overview of active devices or resources withing the specified segment

  • Detects resources and lists basic information such as device name, IP address, and operating system type

  • Does not count toward your licensed audit limits

• Audit

  • Collects detailed information about each resource or device, including hardware, software, and configuration details

  • Adds audited resources and devices to the Inventory to keep track and change history

  • Does count toward your license limits

Best practice

Run a scan first to automatically discover resources and devices and get a high-level view of your environment. Then audit only those you need to keep track.

NOTE: The distinction between scan and audit applies only to the agentless audit method (via audit service and segments). For the agent-based audit method, there is no separate scanning stage: devices are audited directly once the agent is installed.