Cleaning and removing duplicated unique identifiers from remote network nodes

1. A method of resolving duplicate network node identification in an asset management computing system having an inventory of network nodes, the method comprising:

scanning the inventory of network nodes to obtain a first network node information record including a first unique identifier (UID) from a first network node;

determining that the first UID is not listed in a duplicate UID table, wherein the duplicate UID table stores one or more duplicate UID detected from previous scans of the inventory of network nodes;

processing the first network node information record including the first UID through a series of business rule filters to determine the first network node is a unique network node;

determining that the first UID is a duplicate of a second UID associated with a second network node, wherein the second UID is not listed in the duplicate UID table;

entering the first UID in the duplicate UID table to update the duplicate UID table; and

assigning a new UID to be installed on the first network node, when the first UID is found in the updated duplicate UID table.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the first network node is a workstation connected through an Internet network medium to a centralized server.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising sending a scan request to network nodes with a duplicate UID, the request being to begin a scan operation that causes the network node to replace the duplicate UID with a UID that is not a duplicate.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the first network node information record comprises:

a listing of the first network node detailed machine description data; and

a hardware inventory tracking barcode entry.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the processing the first network node information record including the first UID through a series of business rules filters comprises:

determining a valid email address associated with the first network node information record; and

determining that detailed machine description data is complete for the first network node information record.

6. The method of claim 2 wherein the step of generating an entry in the duplicate UID table for the first UID to form an updated duplicate UID table further comprises:

updating a look up table containing duplicate UID entries; and

loading the look up table in memory of the centralized server as the updated duplicate UID table.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

generating, on a subsequent scan of the inventory of network nodes, a new UID to be installed on the first network node in response to the first UID being listed in the updated duplicate UID table.

8. A system for resolving duplicate network node identification in an asset management computing system, comprising:

a plurality of network nodes each network node having a unique identifier (UID) and a network node information record;

a memory for storing computer readable code, data, and a duplicate UID table, wherein the duplicate UID table stores one or more duplicate UID detected from previous scans of the inventory of network nodes;

disk storage devices storing a collection database, at least one processing database;

a network scan processing engine coupled to an Internet network providing communications between network nodes and a server;

the server with an internal processor operatively coupled to the memory, disk storage devices, and Internet network, the server operative to:

initiate a first scan operation on the inventory of network nodes to obtain a first network node information record including a first UID from a first network node;

determine the first UID is not listed in the duplicate UID table;

scan the inventory of network nodes in a subsequent scan operation to obtain from the first network node a changed first network node information record including a changed first UID that is different from the first UID obtained from the first scan operation;

generate a new UID to be installed on a network node if the changed first UID is found on the duplicate UID table;

process the changed first network node information record including the changed first UID through a series of business rule filters to determine the first network node is a unique network node;

determine the changed first UID is a duplicate of a second UID on a second network node, wherein the second UID is not listed in the duplicate UID table; and

update the duplicate UID table to include the changed first UID.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein a scan operates on a network node to create an inventory of hardware and software components on the network node represented by a network node's UID and machine data file.

10. The system of claim 8 wherein the business rule filters further determine whether a valid email address exists for a user registered as an owner of each network node.

11. The system of claim 8 wherein the network node information record including a unique identification (UID) from each network node is stored in a collection database during a collection phase.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein during the collection phase, a determination is made whether the UID from each network node is listed in the duplicate UID table and in response to finding a UID in the duplicate UID table assigning a new UID to the associated network node.