Which protocol is commonly used by NPM to gather inventory and credentials on Windows hosts during discovery?

Which protocol is commonly used by NPM to gather inventory and credentials on Windows hosts during discovery?

• A. WMI
• B. SNMP
• C. SSH
• D. Telnet

Answer: (A)

Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) is the standard way to remotely access a Windows host’s configuration and inventory data. It provides a programmatic interface to read a wide range of system information—what’s installed, hardware details, services, running processes, user accounts, and more—without needing to log in manually. When NPM discovers Windows machines, it uses WMI to query this data, and the credentials you supply are used to authenticate the remote host so the queries can be executed. Because WMI is built into Windows and designed for remote management over the network (via DCOM/RPC), it’s the most capable and reliable method for gathering comprehensive inventory during discovery on Windows. SNMP can gather some basic information, but it lacks the depth and reliability for full inventory and credential access. SSH isn’t a native Windows protocol (and is more common on Linux/macOS), and Telnet is obsolete and insecure.

Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) is the standard way to remotely access a Windows host’s configuration and inventory data. It provides a programmatic interface to read a wide range of system information—what’s installed, hardware details, services, running processes, user accounts, and more—without needing to log in manually. When NPM discovers Windows machines, it uses WMI to query this data, and the credentials you supply are used to authenticate the remote host so the queries can be executed. Because WMI is built into Windows and designed for remote management over the network (via DCOM/RPC), it’s the most capable and reliable method for gathering comprehensive inventory during discovery on Windows.

SNMP can gather some basic information, but it lacks the depth and reliability for full inventory and credential access. SSH isn’t a native Windows protocol (and is more common on Linux/macOS), and Telnet is obsolete and insecure.