Tracking Dell Docking Stations with xAssets IT Asset Management Software

Introduction

xAssets Network Discovery now includes the ability to discover Dell Docking Stations. These are loaded into the Asset Inventory / CMDB as child assets of the laptops they are associated with. Data discovered for these devices includes Make, Model, Serial Number and Service Tag, Installation Date, Motherboard Version, and monitor resolution.

No additional licensing is needed for Dell Docking Stations. The xAssets Network Discovery licensing model covers these devices as peripherals and are therefore covered by the discovery license of each laptop.

Docking stations are an essential part of many organizations IT infrastructure, providing the means to charge and connect devices such as laptops, tablets, and smartphones to the corporate network and VPN.

Managing and tracking these docking stations can be a challenge, especially if you have many of them distributed across different locations. xAssets IT Asset Management Software provides a way to discover and track docking stations with ease.

Discovery

xAssets can discover docking stations connected to the network or VPN, and this can include both wired and wireless docking stations.

The Dell Command Software must be installed on each laptop - you can use a software deployment tool like SCCM, Group Policy, or similar to push the software to all laptops in the network. Then discovery of the laptop with xAssets discovery will retrieve the docking station's serial number, make, model, and version. This information is stored in the asset management software as child assets of the laptop using parent-child relationships.

xAssets IT Asset Management Software can handle multiple docking stations per asset, such as in cases where a laptop is used both at home and in the office. The historical relationships between laptops and docking stations can also be tracked and displayed in the software.

Manual Entry

xAssets can also store docking stations through manual entry. This method involves manually entering information about each docking station into the software, such as its location, serial number, and other relevant attributes as needed.

Conclusion

xAssets offers a powerful asset management product that can discover docking stations throughout a network to get information including serial number, model, make and version of a docking station. The system stores docking stations as child assets of each laptop, it can store multiple docking stations per asset, and it stores historical relationships between laptops and docking stations.