(1) Using software to identify all clients and servers on a network. Network scanning is performed by administrators as well as hackers seeking to compromise the network. See
ping,
port scanning and
network analyzer.
(2) Scanning documents directly to files in a computer on the network. This differs from using a regular scanner, which creates an image within an application that must be saved as a file in a separate step. Network scanning is a single-step operation that converts one or more paper sheets to a single file, typically in the PDF format, that is saved in a predefined folder and sequentially numbered; for example, DOC000.PDF, DOC001.PDF, etc. Multifunction printers often include this option.