Inventory scans are the fastest scans, retrieving only metadata. Because of this, an inventory scan is a good place to begin planning a data loss prevention strategy.
An inventory scan performs the following:
Action | When scanning a file repository | When scanning a database |
|---|---|---|
Collects metadata but does not download any files/tables | x | x |
Returns Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) counters and data inventory (list of files/tables scanned) | x | x |
Restores the last access time of files scanned | x |
Inventory scans on file repositories collect metadata such as the file type, size, date created, and date modified. The type of available metadata depends on the repository type. For example, Box scans retrieve sharing, collaboration, and account name metadata. Inventory scans on databases collect metadata such as the schema name, table name, number of records, size, and owner.
The results of inventory scans are displayed on the Data Inventory and Data Analytics tabs.
Note
You can also use inventory scans to help automate IT tasks such as:
Finding empty files
Finding files that have not been modified for a long time
Extracting database table formatting