What is a network discovery tool and why might you need one for your business?

Here, we look at network discovery tools and how they can help you find all of the devices on your local area network.

Your local area network is a tool that can be very useful, especially if there is a lot of interaction between the computers that are on it. Many casual internet users do not pay that much attention to the local network because there is not much that they will need to do over it in the first place.

Ironically enough, the local network was more critical in the early days of the internet when connection speeds weren’t fast enough to permit complex operations over a longer distance. Regardless, there are plenty of applications for which the local area network can still be used, especially for business.

You will find that businesses can make great use of the local network because they often have many computers operating near each other and on the same network. The local network makes it possible to use programmes like a network discovery tool to facilitate the use of so many workstations.

In this guide, we’ll be taking a look at the network discovery tool and explaining precisely what it does. This kind of programme may not be the most advanced, but it is indeed useful for those who have to identify workstations and other devices on their network.

What does a network discovery tool do?

These programmes give you a bit of a hint as to what they do in their very name. A network discovery tool is a piece of software that is designed to find every device that is present on your local network. Of course, these tools do more than just find out if devices are using your network.

Software such as this will also identify the devices that are using your network, and it will be able to interact with them in a basic manner. Keep in mind that an office environment will have more devices than simple computers and workstations connected to the local network.

A network discovery tool will also find printers, copiers, and more. You may be surprised to find out that this is where these programs tend to shine, as they can give you remote data that would otherwise require you to examine some of these machines physically.

For example, if you want to check the toner level on one of your machines, many network discovery tools will allow you to do so directly. As we already mentioned, they can often provide some basic info about computers, but you will need a companion program to offer you more data.

Network discovery tools tend to work hand in hand with programmes like computer inventory software and even employee monitoring protocols.

Conclusion

We appreciate you taking the time to read over our guide on what a network discovery tool can do for you.

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Ben Lobel

Ben Lobel

Ben Lobel was the editor of SmallBusiness.co.uk and GrowthBusiness.co.uk from 2010 to 2018. He specialises in writing for start-up and scale-up companies in the areas of finance, marketing and HR.

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