Hello all, I am looking for some experience/advice: We are looking at modeling our computer centers in Atrium CMDB 2.1 (w/ ARS & ITSM 7.6.4), including the racks and enclosures. I am looking at several concepts right now to model this data and would be interested in any strategies others have found to be useful in their environments. What I am looking to determine now is not only how to model the data itself, but what processes will be automatically provided, and what processes I will have to customize/create in order to help Infrastructure do their job.
Here's what I am thinking of right now (in broad terms): 1. Extend the BMC_Equipment class to create PQ_Rack and PQ_Enclosure classes, perhaps with AU (slot) classes as well. 2. Utilize BMC_PhysicalLocation to represent object locations (Rack 3-5, AU slot 2) and use custom reports to track overall locations. 3. Extend the current BMC_Rack and BMC_Chassis to add necessary attributes. 4. Federate the location (rack, enclosure) data into a custom Nlyte-like application. If there is a way to utilize the Common Data Model without customization, that would be my preference. Note that the Racks and Enclosures do not simply hold blades, they also hold network modules/patch panels, SANs, power, etc; each of these may also take up more than one slot per. By processes, I mean that Infrastructure will want to be able to quickly tell from an asset name, where it is precisely (site, grid location, rack and enclosure slot). Or, given a two slot asset, where they can plug it in (display the racks where two consecutive slots are available, or at least show the open slots in a fashion that it is easy to see where two consecutive ones are). For example, if I follow strategy 1. and create PQ_Rack and PQ_Enclosure classes, let's say I create AU (slot) classes as well, with component relationships to the racks and enclosures. It seems like this would allow me to define the number of AUs by creating only those CIs (If a rack has 20 slots, I create 20 AU CIs). This would also let me indicate when a slot is unavailable (because cords it is used for cord management, for example) by setting that AU CI's status. Each thing put into a slot would be connected to it using a location relationship. This seems to be the cleanest and most Object Oriented of the set, and if I understand the system correctly, I could only allow 1:1 relationships between the slot and the slotted asset, which would prevent any mistakes. There is concern however that this would involved too much extra work. Again, if anyone has tried modeling racks and enclosures in this kind of detail or done some investigation on doing it I would appreciate your experience and advice on the subject. Thank you in advance, Kelly Logan, Sr. Systems Administrator (Remedy, Planview), GMS ProQuest | 789 E. Eisenhower Parkway, P.O. Box 1346 | Ann Arbor MI 48106-1346 USA | 734.997.4777 kelly.lo...@proquest.com<mailto:kelly.lo...@proquest.com> www.proquest.com ProQuest...Start here. 2010 InformationWeek 500 Top Innovator P Please consider the environment before printing this email. This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender, and delete the message from your computer. _______________________________________________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org attend wwrug12 www.wwrug12.com ARSList: "Where the Answers Are"
