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Hardware Management

Hardware management in Tripl-i CMDB provides comprehensive tracking of all physical and virtual infrastructure components. With AI-powered discovery and intelligent categorization, you can maintain accurate, real-time visibility of your entire hardware estate.

Hardware CI Types​

🖥️ Servers​

Physical and virtual servers including:

  • Physical Servers: Rack-mounted, blade, tower servers
  • Virtual Machines: VMware, Hyper-V, KVM, cloud instances
  • Containers: Docker containers, Kubernetes pods
  • Cloud Instances: AWS EC2, Azure VMs, Google Compute

💻 Workstations​

End-user computing devices:

  • Desktops: Traditional desktop computers
  • Laptops: Portable computers
  • Thin Clients: Zero and thin client devices
  • Mobile Devices: Tablets, smartphones (MDM integrated)

🌐 Network Devices​

Network infrastructure components:

  • Routers: Core, edge, and branch routers
  • Switches: Core, distribution, access switches
  • Firewalls: Hardware firewalls, UTM devices
  • Load Balancers: Application delivery controllers
  • Wireless: Access points, wireless controllers

💾 Storage Systems​

Data storage infrastructure:

  • SAN: Storage area network arrays
  • NAS: Network attached storage
  • Backup: Tape libraries, backup appliances
  • Cloud Storage: Object storage, block storage

Hardware Attributes​

Core Attributes​

Every hardware CI includes:

Basic Information:

  • Name: Unique identifier
  • Serial Number: Manufacturer serial
  • Asset Tag: Internal asset number
  • Model: Hardware model
  • Manufacturer: Vendor name
  • Location: Physical/logical location
  • Status: Active, Inactive, Decommissioned

Technical Specifications:

  • CPU: Processor type, cores, speed
  • Memory: RAM capacity, type, slots
  • Storage: Disk capacity, type, RAID
  • Network: NICs, MAC addresses, IPs
  • Power: PSU configuration
  • Firmware: BIOS/UEFI version

Extended Attributes​

Additional tracking capabilities:

Lifecycle Information:

  • Purchase Date: Acquisition date
  • Warranty: Start/end dates, coverage
  • Lease: Lease terms and expiry
  • EOL/EOS: End of life/support dates
  • Refresh Date: Planned replacement

Financial Information:

  • Purchase Price: Original cost
  • Current Value: Depreciated value
  • Maintenance Cost: Annual maintenance
  • Total Cost: TCO calculation

Environmental Data:

  • Power Consumption: Watts/BTU
  • Cooling Requirements: CFM needed
  • Rack Position: U location
  • Weight: Physical weight

Discovery Methods​

Agent-Based Discovery​

Windows Discovery Agent collects:

  • WMI hardware information
  • Registry data
  • Network configuration
  • Installed software
  • Running processes
  • Event logs

Linux Discovery Agent collects:

  • DMI/SMBIOS data
  • CPU and memory information
  • PCI and USB device information
  • Network interfaces
  • Disk configuration
  • System logs

Agentless Discovery​

SNMP Scanning

Collected Data:

  • System description
  • Interface information
  • CPU/Memory utilization
  • Environmental sensors
  • Component status

VMware vSphere Integration

Virtual Machine Data:

  • VM configuration
  • Resource allocation
  • Host mapping
  • Datastore usage
  • Network assignments

Hardware Lifecycle Management​

States and Transitions​

Automated Workflows​

New Hardware Onboarding

  1. Automatic discovery on network connection
  2. AI classification of hardware type
  3. Auto-population of specifications
  4. Relationship mapping to services
  5. Compliance check execution
  6. License allocation (if applicable)

Hardware Refresh Planning

The system provides AI-powered recommendations for hardware refresh including:

  • Current age of the hardware
  • Warranty status
  • Performance metrics
  • Recommended timeline for replacement
  • Suggested replacement models
  • Estimated costs for upgrades

Relationship Mapping​

Hardware Dependencies​

Impact Analysis​

When managing hardware, Tripl-i automatically:

  • Maps dependent services
  • Calculates business impact
  • Identifies redundancy gaps
  • Suggests mitigation strategies

Best Practices​

1. Discovery Configuration​

  • ✅ Schedule regular discovery scans (daily minimum)
  • ✅ Use both agent and agentless methods
  • ✅ Verify credentials regularly
  • ✅ Monitor discovery success rates

2. Data Quality​

  • ✅ Standardize naming conventions
  • ✅ Maintain accurate location data
  • ✅ Update lifecycle information promptly
  • ✅ Regular data validation audits

3. Automation Rules​

The system can apply automatic classification rules such as:

  • Windows Server systems are classified as Servers
  • Systems with high RAM capacity (>64GB) are flagged as High-Performance
  • Virtual machines are linked to their hypervisor hosts
  • Hardware with expired warranties is flagged for review

4. Integration Points​

  • Monitoring: Real-time status updates
  • Ticketing: Incident correlation
  • Procurement: Purchase order tracking
  • Finance: Asset depreciation

Hardware Reports​

Standard Reports​

  1. Hardware Inventory

    • Complete hardware listing
    • Specifications summary
    • Location mapping
    • Age analysis

  2. Warranty Status

    • Expiring warranties
    • Out-of-warranty devices
    • Maintenance coverage
    • Renewal recommendations

  3. Capacity Planning

    • Resource utilization trends
    • Growth projections
    • Bottleneck identification
    • Upgrade recommendations

AI-Generated Insights​

The system analyzes hardware utilization and generates insights such as:

  • Servers with low CPU utilization (15%) and low memory utilization (20%)
  • Recommendations for consolidation or right-sizing
  • Potential cost savings from hardware optimization
  • Performance improvement opportunities

Troubleshooting​

Common Issues​

Discovery Failures

  • Check network connectivity
  • Verify credentials
  • Review firewall rules
  • Confirm SNMP community strings

Duplicate CIs

  • Review discovery identifiers
  • Check serial number conflicts
  • Merge duplicate records
  • Update discovery rules

Missing Relationships

  • Run relationship discovery
  • Check network topology
  • Verify application mappings
  • Manual relationship creation

Next Steps​