How Scanning Works

Discover gathers inventory data from the systems in a scan scope.

Inventory Data

Point-in-time configuration data collected from target devices at regular intervals, using WMI/SMB for Windows systems and SSH for Unix/Linux systems. Each scan’s results supersede the previously collected data. Inventory data includes:

  • System information: OS, hardware, DNS/IP, VM, disk, and filesystem
  • Process information: running applications, ports, and protocols in use
  • Connection information: how applications and devices communicate
  • Database information: for example, SQL Server instance name, product name, version, edition, database name, and size

What You Can Scan

Target Notes
Windows Domain-joined or workgroup devices.
Unix/Linux Inventory.
VMware vCenter ESX inventory.
SQL Server Detected automatically on Windows devices when credentials allow access β€” no separate configuration needed.

See Scanning support matrix for supported OS, database, and hypervisor versions.