About the Crawler

LAN Data Collection uses the GoToAssist Crawler to retrieve data. The Crawler is a small, efficient discovery application that scans your network and collects detailed information about the computers and devices. As it gathers data about the devices in your network, it securely transfers the data to the Search Index of your Monitoring web account, where you can directly access the data through customizable dashboards and applications.

Topics in this article:

Initial Network Scan

Recurring Network Scans

Search Index

Crawler Discovery

Initial Network Scan

The Crawler is installed on only one computer or server in order to probe your entire network. It will not install itself on any others as it scans them. When initially configured and deployed, the Crawler scans every device that it detects on a network (this may take some time, depending on the size of your network). The devices will show in the Inventory within a few hours, and the detailed information typically appears within 24 hours.

Note: This works best if you have a flat network with no firewall. If you have a complex or segmented network, you can install a Crawler in each segment, and the data they gather will be consolidated in your Search Index.

Recurring Network Scans

After that first scan, the Crawler then re-scans your network every 24 hours (by default) to monitor server health, performance, status and more. It will also track any new installations or configuration changes to your network. In between regular scans, the Crawler “listens” on the network to discover new devices. Whenever it discovers a new device, it automatically gathers data about it and includes it in your search index. After the initial scan, the amount of data that the Crawler sends is minimized, because it remembers what was previously sent to your Index. Although it runs continually, the Crawler uses fewer network and system resources after it completes the first complete run. It also leaves no data on the devices that it scans.

Warning: To avoid unreliable results, do not configure multiple crawlers to scan the same devices.

Search Index

The search index is where the Crawler sends the data it gathers. It’s located in a separate and unassailable location in the server to which only you have access. You can run searches or queries from your Monitoring web account to get specific results about your gathered data, or you can use the Inventory application to see a clear visual layout of the devices in your network.

Crawler Discovery

The Crawler gathers a rich and deep array of IT information. As soon as you install it, your Crawler immediately starts gathering data from switches and WMI using a set of default credentials. You can extend it by adding plugins to gather even more information, such as the following:

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