102a or 102b can inject additional information into the instruction file (such as the relay machine name, or a zone name) that the remote system may find helpful. However, the main purpose of the relay system is to move files between the master server (e.g., the enterprise management system) and remote servers (e.g., the remote server systems). This way, only one security opening needs to be made with that one relay server and the master file share. This is much better than opening multiple security ports for each of the remote servers.

In an operation 205, the remote server systems 103a-f monitor the instructions folder of the respective relay system 102a or 102b. In some embodiments, the remote server systems 103a-f monitor the instructions folder of the respective relay system 102a or 102b by running an event listener service. In some embodiments, the remote server systems 103a-f may poll or ping the respective relay system 102a or 102b on a periodic bases to monitor the instructions folder. In various embodiments, the network address of a relay system 102a or 102b is hardcoded into the respective remote server systems 103a-f for them to open a file sharing port and monitor the instructions folder.

In an operation 206, the remote server systems 103a-f retrieve and execute the computer-readable instructions from a respective relay system 102a or 102b. In various embodiments, the instructions generated by the enterprise management system 101 are percolated to every remote server system 103a-f and the respective remote server system 103a-f determines the applicability of the instructions to the respective remote server system 103a-f. The instruction file includes a list of all remote server system expected to execute the instructions. The remote server system will receive the instruction file, check to see if it is in the list of targeted servers, and if so, execute the code. For example, the first remote server system 103a may pull and execute the instructions from the instructions folder first relay system 102. In response to pulling and/or executing the instructions, the first remote server system 103a may determine that the instructions are not applicable to the first remote server system 103a (e.g., that the first remote server system 103a does not have the requested data or the remote server is not within an array list of servers in the instructions). In this example, the first remote server system 103a may not perform additional operations or may generate a results folder that is empty.

In another example, in response to pulling and/or executing the instructions, the first remote server system 103a determines that the first remote server system 103a does have the requested data stored. In response, the first remote server system 103 identifies and access the requested data within the local file structure 130, aggregates and/or formats the requested data based on the instructions, and stores the requested data within a results folder 142 of the file structure 130. For example, the data and/or file may be compiled and named such that the enterprise management server 101 is able to determine which process (e.g., script or executable) to use in order to extrapolate and process the data as explained below. In some embodiments, the requested data is encrypted, for example, using a cryptographic algorithm before storage in the results folder 142. In some embodiments, the requested data that needs to be generated. For example, the remote server 103a may perform one or more operations or calculations in order to generate and store the requested data. Once the results are stored in the results folder 142 of the remote server 130a, the remote server 130a then gets notification of that file and moves it to the results folder of the respective relay server 102b. The relay server 102a receives an event of the new file in its results folder and moves it to the enterprise management system 101 (e.g., the enterprise server). The enterprise management system 101 detects an event of the newly received file in its results folder and queues it for processing into the central database.

In an operation 207, the remote server systems 103a-f push the data from respective results folders to a respective relay system 102a or 102b. For example, once the instructions have been executed or on a pre-determined schedule, the first remote server system 103 pushes the data in the results folder 142 to a results folder 142 of the first relay system 102a. In some embodiments, the remote server systems 103a-f may execute the instructions and gather the data into a folder or file and then move the folder or file to the results folder of the remote server system. For example, the remote server systems 103a-f may move the folder or file by updating a pointer change of the folder or file after executing all of the instructions. The move triggers the event that causes the remote server system to push the data to respective relay system 102a or 102b. In various embodiments, the move of the file being the trigger guarantees that the folder or file of data is fully written before the results folder is pushed to the respective relay system 102a or 102b. In some embodiments, the name of the results or data file (e.g., “DataInventory_MyFavoriteServer_2025_0951.tsv”) may start with a keyword (e.g., “DataInventory”) such that, when the file is received by the enterprise management system 101, the enterprise management system 101 is able to split the name by the underscore character (e.g., or other predetermined character) and determine a particular process (e.g., script or executable) to use for loading the data from the file into any (or multiple) of the central databases 190.

In some embodiments, a process may be scheduled on one or more of the remote server systems 103a-f to generate a results file on a pre-defined schedule. In this example, no computer readable instructions may have been retrieved from the respective relay system 102a or 102b. Instead, one or more of the remote server system 103a-f may automatically execute the process, generate the file or folder of data, move the file or folder of data to the results folder, and push the results folder to a respective results folder of the relay systems 102a-b that may then, in turn, push the file or folder of data to the enterprise management system.

In an operation 208, the relay systems 102a-b monitor the results folder of the respective relay system 102a or 102b. For example, the relay systems 102a-b may be operating an event listener service such as a windows event listener on its own results folder. Upon detecting that a results file from a remote server system 103a-f has been pushed into the results folder of the respective relay system 102a-b, the respective relay system 102a or 102b pushes the data from the local results folders to the enterprise management system 101 at process 209. For example, once the first relay system 102a receives the data from the first remote server system 103a or on a pre-determined schedule, the first relay system 102a pushes the results folder 142 to a results folder 142 of the enterprise management system 101. In some embodiments, the first relay system 102a may push the data received from each of the remote server systems 103a-f separately. In various embodiments, the first relay system 102a may push the results file to the results folder of the enterprise management system 101, move the data into a history folder on the first relay system 102a, store the data for a pre-determined amount of time (e.g., hours, days, etc.), and then purge or delete the data. In some embodiments, the results folder 142 of the first relay system 102a is deleted or purged immediately upon pushing the data to the enterprise management system 101. In some embodiments, the first relay system 102a may collect the data from two or more of the remote server systems 103a-c and aggregate the data within the results folder 142 before pushing the results file 142 to the enterprise computing device 101. In some embodiments, the first relay system 102a may place all received results within a FIFO queue and push the results folder to the enterprise management system 102 via multiple different threads or lines.

In an operation 210, the enterprise management system 101 processes the contents of the results folders pushed to the results folder of the enterprise management system 101. In some embodiments, the enterprise management system 101 monitors the results folder of the enterprise management system 101 and upon detecting that one or more results files from the relay systems 102a-b have been pushed to the enterprise management system 101, process the results. In some embodiments, the enterprise management system 101 places the received results into a queue (e.g., FIFO queue) and processes the contents of the received results folders one by one. In some embodiments, the enterprise management system 101 may include multiple processors or servers that assist in processing the queue. In some embodiments, some file types (e.g., determined based on a name of the file in the results folder) may be given priority and processed first. Depending on the type of file being received, a script or executable may be run to process the file. The results may then be loaded into a central database within the memory of the enterprise computing system 101. For example, data received may include particular data fields (e.g., requested in the instructions) with the particular values pushed to the enterprise management system 101. The particular data fields and corresponding values may be stored in an ordered structure within a database at the enterprise management system 101. The enterprise management system 101 may update the database based on future results or values of the particular data fields returned in order to maintain the database. The enterprise management system 101 may then be able to quickly and efficiently access the database in the future in order to run various applications and/or display the values to a user via a GUI that allows the user to more easily assess the current state and/or compliance of the computing device. In some embodiments, if the enterprise management system 101 is unable to determine a process for a particular file, the enterprise management system 101 may place the file into an error file and transmit a notification of the error to a user computing device (e.g., accessible via an administrator of the enterprise).

In some embodiments, the data of the central database of the enterprise management system 101 is stored in an structured query language (SQL) database to inventory the application data (e.g., parameters, size, features, etc.) of the remote servers 103a-f. The data of the SQL database may be stored in attributes instead of a traditional structure such as a table. The data received from the remote servers by performing method 200 may be received in rowsets and the enterprise computing system 101 then processes the row sets by breaking them up into attributes. The enterprise computing system 101 may then generate a table via querying the central database and assembling the queried attributes into a traditional rowset (e.g., table) format. Accordingly, the processing of received data by the enterprise computing system 101 and structure of the central database improves the dynamic ability and efficiency of presenting or analyzing the aggregated data.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a computing device in accordance with an illustrative embodiment. An illustrative computing device 300 includes a memory 310, a processor 305, a transceiver 315, a user interface 320, and a power source 325. In alternative embodiments, additional, fewer, and/or different elements may be used. The computing device 300 can be any suitable device described herein. For example, the enterprise management system 101, the relay systems 102a-b, and the remote server systems 103a-f may each include one or more computing devices 300. The computing device 300 can be a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a smartphone, a server, a specialized computing device, etc. The computing device 300 can be used to implement one or more of the methods described herein.

In an illustrative embodiment, the memory 310 is an electronic holding place or storage for information so that the information can be accessed by the processor 305. The memory 310 can include, but is not limited to, any type of random access memory (RAM), any type of read only memory (ROM), any type of flash memory, etc. such as magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strips, etc.), optical disks (e.g., compact disk (CD), digital versatile disk (DVD), etc.), smart cards, flash memory devices, etc. The computing device 300 may have one or more computer-readable media that use the same or a different memory media technology. The computing device 300 may have one or more drives that support the loading of a memory medium such as a CD, a DVD, a flash memory card, etc. For example, the computer-readable media may include instructions thereon, that when executed, cause the one or more operations described in reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

In an illustrative embodiment, the processor 305 executes instructions. The instructions may be carried out by a special purpose computer, logic circuits, or hardware circuits. The processor 305 may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof. The term “execution” is, for example, the process of running an application or the carrying out of the operation called for by an instruction. The instructions may be written using one or more programming language, scripting language, assembly language, etc. The processor 305 executes an instruction, meaning that it performs the operations called for by that instruction. The processor 305 operably couples with the user interface 320, the transceiver 315, the memory 310, etc. to receive, to send, and to process information and to control the operations of the computing device 300. The processor 305 may retrieve a set of instructions from a permanent memory device such as a ROM device and copy the instructions in an executable form to a temporary memory device that is generally some form of RAM. An illustrative computing device