Network Inventory

Chances are some PCs in your network are 'outdated'. No, they still work, but this is tech world: network hardware inventory clearly shows that average PC lifespan is only about 3 years. The "333" rule says that once every three years there is a new major OS upgrade, the value of hardware is 1/3 of what it was originally worth and for the money you paid three years ago you can now buy a machine that will be 3 times as powerful.

Not all companies do computer network inventory and follow the "333" rule and there is no reason to be orthodox about it, but this rule certainly can't be ignored. In the age of shrinking IT budgets, no company is brave enough to say they are going back to 386s and DOS. To save money, companies use network inventory software to do network inventory and upgrade parts and pieces of PCs and network equipment rather then buying new machines. Before this can be done, system administrator needs to inspect each equipment piece and place it into one of these three categories:

• IT equipment that does not need to be upgraded.
• Outdated equipment that can be modernized
• Old equipment that needs to be replaced
• And everything should be included in network inventory

Before you start modernizing your computers, you need to know exactly which workstations need to be refurbished first and to what extend you want to upgrade your PCs.

What is the formula for calculating "right" PC configuration? There is none. PC resources are not distributed equally. Some powerful PCs are being used as word processors, while resource-demanding applications frequently run on old PCs. The common sense solution to that would be to swap computers, but it is rarely practiced. The most popular approach is to estimate what kinds of applications will be running on different PCs and then use appropriate configuration for each group of computers.