A centralized network managed distributed computing system includes a number of network nodes, such as workstations, a network connection medium, such as the Internet, and a server for managing the network of nodes. Unique identifiers are assigned to each network node during a first scanning operation to uniquely identify each network node and each node's installed software and hardware configurations. If a new machine is prepared for operation in the network by installing a software configuration that is a duplicate of an already scanned machine, a duplicate of a supposedly unique identifier can be introduced into the distributed computing system. Techniques of resolving duplicate network node identification in a centralized server managed distributed computing system are also described. Network nodes are scanned to obtain a network node information record including a unique identification (UID) from each network node. A new UID is generated to be installed on the network node, if the network node's UID is found on a duplicate UID listing. The network node information records including the UIDs are then processed through a series of business rule filters to determine if there are duplicate UIDs. A duplicate UID listing is created for the distributed computing system and email messages are sent to network nodes with duplicate UIDs indicating the nature of the problem found.