Understanding Rolling Up Scan Data Across Servers

If the inventory deployment rolls up scan data across servers, the process of scanning is as follows:

1. The inventory policies in eDirectory define the inventory settings, such as scanning time, whether to include software scanning of workstations, and the location of the scan directory. These settings are customizable.
2. The Scanner reads the inventory policies and collects the workstation inventory information.
3. The Scanner stores the scan data of each workstation as a scan data file (.STR) in the scan directory (SCANDIR) at the server.
4. The Scanner stores the minimal inventory information of the workstation in eDirectory.
5. The Selector validates the .STR file and places the file in the enterprise merge directory (ENTMERGEDIR) for roll-up of scan data. If there is a database attached, the Selector places the files in the database directory (DBDIR) also.
6. The Sender on the server has a Roll-Up policy to identify the server to which it will transmit the scan data and the Roll-Up Schedule specifies time for roll-up of data. The Sender compresses the .STR files as a .ZIP file and places the .ZIP file in the enterprise push directory (ENTPUSHDIR). The Sender then sends the .ZIP file to the Receiver on the next-level server.
7. The Receiver on the next-level server receives the .ZIP file.

   On the Intermediate Server, the Receiver places the file in the enterprise push directory (ENTPUSHDIR). On the Intermediate Server with Database, or the Intermediate Server with Database and Workstations, the Receiver places the file in ENTPUSHDIR and copies the file in the Database Directory (DBDIR).

   On the Root Server, or the Root Server with Workstations, the Receiver places the file in DBDIR only.

8. The Storer extracts the .ZIP file containing the .STR files in to a temp directory (DBDIR\TEMP) and updates the database with the inventory information of the workstation .STR file.
9. The network administrator views the inventory information, queries the database, and generates inventory reports in ConsoleOne.

The following illustration depicts the scanning process across servers:

The following illustration lists the sequence of scan operations done by each inventory component: