What is Network Discovery?

[#1]

Network Discovery is a core capability of the Lansweeper Platform that automatically identifies all IP-connected devices across your environment. It uncovers every asset on your network and creates a centralized, continuously updated inventory of your IT, OT, and IoT devices.

With Network Discovery, you can map your entire infrastructure and gain complete visibility into all connected hardware—servers, computers, switches, printers, routers, cameras, and more—without relying on manual processes or complex setup.

What Network Discovery helps you do

Network Discovery enables IT teams to answer key questions about their infrastructure quickly and accurately.

• What devices are connected to my network?

  Identify every asset with an IP address, including unmanaged and shadow IT devices.

• What’s on each device?

  Collect detailed metadata such as hardware specs, operating system, software, and associated users.

• Where are these devices?

  Automatically map network topologies and subnet relationships to visualize how devices connect across sites.

• Is my inventory complete and current?

  Continuous discovery ensures asset data stays accurate and up to date.

Common use cases

• Maintain a real-time, trusted IT asset inventory

• Strengthen security and vulnerability management

• Monitor hybrid or distributed environments across multiple sites

• Support compliance and audit readiness with complete visibility

Key capabilities

• Automated IP range discovery: Detects all IP-connected devices, including unmanaged ones.

• Device fingerprinting: Identifies manufacturer, OS, and hardware details.

• Subnet mapping: Builds topology visualizations of connected devices and switches.

• Credential-free discovery: Quickly inventories devices without stored credentials.

• Local credential vault: Secure, optional credential storage for deeper inspection.

• Cross-platform support: Runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS.

How Network Discovery works

Lansweeper Network Discovery uses a modern, distributed architecture designed for flexibility, scalability, and security. Three key components work together to gather data from your network and deliver it safely to your Lansweeper Site: the IT and OT Sensor, the Hub, and the site itself.

IT and OT Sensor

The Network Discovery IT and OT Sensor is the local component that does the scanning. It detects and collects information about devices in your network environment using a combination of credential-free and credential-based methods.

A sensor:

• Actively scans defined IP ranges to identify connected devices.

• Detects device type, manufacturer, and operating system through device fingerprinting.

• Maps network subnets and switch ports to create network topology diagrams.

• Works across Windows, Linux, and macOS systems.

You can deploy multiple sensors in different network segments for broader coverage. Each sensor communicates securely with a connected Hub to transmit discovery data.

Hub

The hub is the local coordination layer that connects your on-premise environment to your Lansweeper Site. It acts as the central communication point for all the sensors in your network.

The hub:

• Manages sensors: Receives data from connected sensors and ensures efficient scheduling and data handling.

• Handles credentials: Stores credentials in an encrypted, on-premise vault, never in the cloud.

• Consolidates discovery data: Normalizes and prepares collected data for transmission to your site for processing and visualization.

• Provides resiliency: Temporarily stores results if your site connection is unavailable, syncing automatically once connectivity is restored.

Each hub is linked to a specific Lansweeper Site, but large environments can deploy multiple Hubs to manage different network zones, regions, or customers.

NOTE

Most of the configurations available in the hub are also manageable from your Lansweeper Site, providing centralized control over all your discovery components. If you don’t need advanced configuration options, once a hub is connected to your site, you may not need to access the hub interface again.

Lansweeper Site

The Lansweeper Site is the cloud-based destination where all discovery data is stored, processed, and visualized. It’s your single source of truth for asset information across your entire technology estate.

Within your site, you can:

• View a unified, continuously updated asset inventory.

• Manage discovery configurations and deploy new scanning rules.

• Correlate asset data from different discovery sources—including Network Discovery, IT Agent, and Cloud Discovery.

• Access insights, reports, and integrations with other IT systems.

The site provides a global view of all discovered assets, whether they come from on-prem, remote, or cloud environments.

Secure communication

All communication between a sensor, hub, and site flows outbound over encrypted HTTPS connections.

• Sensors send discovery results only to their linked Hub.

• The Hub securely synchronizes this data with the Lansweeper Site.

• No inbound ports need to be opened on your network, reducing configuration overhead and minimizing risk.

This secure, one-way connection model ensures a simple deployment experience while maintaining strong data protection and compliance controls.

Deployment at a glance

Network Discovery can typically be deployed in 30–60 minutes.

NOTE

As part of your free trial, you should already have your first hub and sensor installed and connected to your site. However, you can always install additional hubs and sensors as your environment grows or if you need to scan different network segments.

1. Install a sensor and hub on a network-accessible machine.

2. Connect the sensor to your Lansweeper Site using a linking code.

3. Define discovery targets, such as subnets, IP ranges, and credentials.

4. Run discovery and start automatically populating your inventory with assets.

Next steps

For more information about installing Network Discovery, see:

• Install Network Discovery - Windows

• Install Network Discovery - Linux

• Install Network Discovery - MacOS