Computer system characteristics

Computer systems provide computing capabilities by aggregating one or more elements, such as file systems, operating systems, processors, and memory, including volatile and nonvolatile storage, or network addresses that are child instances related to the BMC_ComputerSystem instance.

Therefore, additional information about a computer system might not be part of a BMC_ComputerSystem instance but is available from instances of other classes connected to the BMC_ComputerSystem instance through relationships.

The following figure represents a model for a server, a network-addressable computer system:

Servers, workstations, and network devices, such as routers, switches, hubs, load balancers, and firewalls are all instances of BMC_ComputerSystem class. BMC_ComputerSystem represents an entity made up of component parts that operate as a functional whole. The PrimaryCapability attribute is used to identify whether a specific instance is a server, a router, or something else. BMC CMDB planners might use the PrimaryCapability attribute to define a vendor-specific switch used in their network. Defining a vendor-specific switch makes it easy to import this data from a vendor's environment as an industry-standard item in their BMC CMDB.

Logical identity of BMC_ComputerSystem

BMC_ComputerSystem is the primary class that you use to model computers in your organization. This class stores CIs relating to collections of managed system elements. You can use the attributes in this class to define the purpose of each computer CI in your organization.
For example, this class contains several attributes that represent a network-addressable system, such as a server, a workstation, or a network device as well as mainframes, printers, and virtual systems.

The following table lists the attributes that identify an instance of BMC_ComputerSystem:

Attribute	Usage
Name, NameFormat	Identifies a computer system. The Name attribute should be a unique instance identifier that may not be human readable. Because multiple naming conventions may exist and can be used according to specific contexts, set the NameFormat attribute with a value indicating the heuristic method used to generate the Name value. For example, in some cases, an instance of BMC_ComputerSystem may be identified by an external DNS name (a name configured in a DNS server). In other cases, a static IP address may be used. The naming conventions for NameFormat are as follows: IP— a valid IP address (decimal bytes delimited with dots). DNS—a fully qualified host name, formatted as HostName and DomainName delimited with dots. The DomainName can also be made of multiple components delimited with dots. TOKEN—Name that holds a value defined by TokenId.
Domain	Identifies the domain name of the computer, as known by end points.
HostName	Specifies the local name of the computer, as known by the end points. This value must be set according to BMC nationalization guidelines that specifies the algorithms and methods required to obtain the correct values.
SerialNumber	Displays the serial number of the computer.

Key attributes of the BMC_ComputerSystem class

The following table shows the attributes that further describe the role of an instance of BMC_ComputerSystem:

Attribute	Usage
CapabilityList	Defines the main functions that the computer can perform. This is a character attribute in which you can enter any value listed in the description. You can enter more than one of these values; however, make sure that multiple values are delimited by commas. A computer system can be dedicated to a single function, such as printing, routing, or switching packets, or it can perform several functions. Typically, the PrimaryCapability attribute is set to the first value specified in CapabilityList.
PrimaryCapability	Describes the main function that the computer performs. By convention, PrimaryCapability is the first item in the CapabilityList attribute.
ShortDescription	Specifies a short description for the instance when the value of the Name attribute is encoded. ShortDescription should always be provided and set with a value that makes sense to an end user.

Functions and values of the CapabilityList attribute

The following list provides the functions and values that you can use to assign to a CapabilityList attribute depending on the function of the computer:

Not Dedicated—0
Unknown—1
Other—-2
Storage—3
Router—4
Switch—5
Layer 3 Switch—6
Central Office Switch—7
Hub—8
Access Server—9
Firewall—10

Print—11
I/O—12
Web Caching—13
Server—14
Management —15
Block Server —16
File Server —17
Mobile User Device —18
Repeater—19
Bridge/Extender—20

Gateway —21
LoadBalancer—22
Mainframe—23
SANSwitch—24
SANHub—25
SANBridge—26
SANRouter—27
SANDirector—28
RAIDStorageDevice—29
Virtual Tape Library—30

JBOD—31
Workstation–32
StorageSubsystem—33
Storage Virtualizer—34
Media Library—35
ExtenderNode—36
NAS Head—37
Self-contained NAS—38
UPS—39
IP Phone—40

Management Controller—41
Chassis Manager—42
Host-based RAID controller—43
Storage Device Enclosure—44
Desktop—45
Laptop—46
Virtual Library System—47
Blade System—48
Blade Server–49

For example, a server with active firewall capabilities could have the values 14 (Server) or 10 (Firewall) for CapabilityList. PrimaryCapability would be set to server if this is the main function of the system. However, a switch device would have CapabilityList = 5 (Switch) and PrimaryCapability = 5.

Additional attributes of the BMC_ComputerSystem class

The following table describes the attributes that provide additional information about an instance of BMC_ComputerSystem class:

Attribute	Description
Description	The functions that the computer system can perform.
DHCPUse	Specifies whether the system is configured to use DHCP or not. Enabled — configured to use DHCP Disabled — not configured to use DHCP
ManufacturerName	The company that manufactured the computer.
Model	The model of the computer.
OwnerContact	The contact information that specifies the contact details of the primary system owner (phone number or email address).
OwnerName	The name of the primary system owner.
TokenId	A unique identifier populated by BMC Discovery products and used by the Reconciliation Engine of BMC CMDB to identify instances.
TotalPhysicalMemory	The total physical memory, in kilobytes.

For more information about specific attributes, see the BMC CMDB Common Data Model Help.