How devices are matched to assets
How AssetTrove decides that two reports describe the same physical device, with the exact scoring it uses.
The same laptop might be reported by Intune, an agent and a spreadsheet, each describing it slightly differently. AssetTrove scores every identifier to decide whether a report belongs to an existing asset, so you end up with one record per device.
The scoring
| Signal | Points |
|---|---|
| Same device management ID or cloud instance ID | +100 |
| Same serial number and same manufacturer | +90 |
| Same hardware UUID (either byte order) | +80 |
| Same serial number, manufacturer unknown on one side | +60 |
| Same main network (MAC) address | +40 |
| Same hostname | +15 |
| Different serial numbers | −100 |
| Different manufacturers | −50 |
The decision
- 90 points or more, and no other asset scores 60 or more: linked automatically.
- 60 points or more, but not clear-cut: sent to the Needs review queue for a person to decide. The software data is still stored, so nothing is lost while it waits. See Resolving match conflicts.
- Below 60: treated as a new device. Depending on the source's settings, AssetTrove creates a new asset or leaves it unmatched.
Identifiers AssetTrove ignores
Some values look like identifiers but aren't unique, so they're ignored for matching:
- placeholder serials such as TO BE FILLED BY O.E.M., Default string, System Serial Number, 0, 123456789 or N/A;
- empty hardware UUIDs (all zeros or all Fs) and a known motherboard default;
- randomised Wi-Fi addresses (private MAC addresses) and virtual network adapters from VPNs, Hyper-V, Docker and VirtualBox;
- default hostnames such as DESKTOP-7FQ2KXA or localhost. These are still shown, just not used for matching.
Common situations
A laptop is re-imaged. It comes back with a new hostname and a new device management ID, but the same serial and UUID. Serial and UUID together score 170 points, so it's still recognised as the same asset.
A motherboard is replaced. The device management ID stays the same but the serial number changes: +100 − 100 = 0. This is deliberately not linked automatically, because a new motherboard can change the warranty and the device's identity, so a person should decide.
Cloned virtual machines. When several VMs share a hardware UUID because they were cloned from one template, AssetTrove notices and stops using that UUID for matching in your organisation.