Hardware Types

Purchasing classifies hardware into two types: computers and other assets.

Computers

Computers are managed desktop or server machines. Purchasing treats computers differently than other types of hardware assets (described next). In CAM Administrator, you can run the discovery process to discover all computers, also known as machines, in your organization's Active Directory. These machines appear in CAM Administrator's Machines panel and you can inventory or meter them there.

In Purchasing, when you enter a computer as a line item, you can also enter its serial number, which will cause it to be automatically reconciled when that computer is inventoried.

Other Assets

The other hardware type, other assets, covers all other types of hardware. Other assets can include switches, routers, firewalls, and so on. Since they are not discovered or inventoried in CAM Administrator, you have to create them and then reconcile them manually.