Setting up your environment
IBM BigFix Asset Discovery has some key uses in enterprise environments:
- Identification of network assets – including devices such as routers, printers, switches, wireless access points, or anything with an IP address.
- Identification of unmanaged and rogue computers including computers that have had theIBM BigFix agent disabled or rogue computers that are not managed by the company.
With this information, important license inventory questions can be answered regarding what kind of device it is, when it was installed and where it is located. Additionally, security questions and concerns can be answered regarding unauthorized employee computers, wireless units or rogue devices on the network.
TheIBM BigFix Asset Discovery solution is unique because the scanning is done by other agents of nearby computers. This is known as distributed scanning. This approach has several key benefits:
- Conserves WAN bandwidth
- Scanning can be done in parallel for much faster results, in minutes instead of weeks
- Can be easily customized to work in complex network configurations, including isolated subnets
- Individual subnets can run customized scan types
IBM BigFix Asset
Discovery works by using Fixlet and Tasks to deploy Scan Points to
specified agents in your network. You can then use other Fixlets and
Tasks to run Nmap scans at intervals of your choosing. Scan results
are automatically sent to the IBM BigFix server,
which imports the data into the IBM BigFix database.
The scan information can then be viewed in the IBM BigFix console
using the Unmanaged Assets tab.
Note: You must install
the BES server plug-in service to work with Asset Discovery Fixlets.
This plug-in is available for installation in the BES Support site.