A system that includes one or more clients, databases and servers. The
clients communicate with the servers using hyper-text transfer protocol.
Each client includes a scheduling and monitoring agent. Each server
includes several components. A first server component performs a
plurality of functions, including receiving requests from the client(s)
for configuration file verification information and storing in the
database(s) a log of the requests. A second server component is capable
of performing a plurality of functions, including receiving hardware and
software inventory information, as well as software metering statistics,
and storing the inventory information in at least one of the databases.