Devices

Devices

Devices represent the physical hardware installed in data centers. This could be a parent device, such as a server, or a child device such as a blade server which slots into a blade enclosure/chassis.

All devices must be created with an association to a device type, which describes the common attributes and components of a particular brand or model of hardware. When a device is instantited it will inherit dimensions and components from the type but you are free to alter these values for a particular instance.

As devices may be installed in a rack, device height is measured in rack units. In some cases, you may wish to model a device which does not occupy vertical space in a rack, by setting the height to 0U. If a device consumes more than 1U, then the position in the rack is considered the lowest point. This means a 2U device at position 7

The depth of a device is measured by the depth of the rack used: half or full. A device is considered "full depth" if installing it in one face of the rack prevents installation of a device on the opposite face.

Devices must be associated to the site they belong to. Each device must have a unique name within a site, unless associated with a tenant, in which case the name must be unique within the combination of site and tenant. In addition, a device may be installed into a particular unit on a rack.

Devices are further organized by functional roles. These roles are defined by the user and depends on the use cases.

Device Types

Device types represent a particular model of hardware used in a data center. The type describes the common dimensions, attributes and components of a particular piece of hardware. The type is then instantiated per device in order to create multiple instances of the same type of device. Device types can be viewed as "templates" for devices of the same variety.

Each device will inherit the components of its device type at the time of instantiation. Changes may be made to the device, which override inherited values. Changes may also be made to the device type, which will NOT apply to instances of that device type retroactively.

Each device type may declare whether it is a parent, which may house other devices, or a child, which may be inserted into a parent device.

Manufacturers

Represent a brand or maker of device hardware, inventory item or platform.

Device Components

The following components may be added to a device (either directly or as a template on a device type) to further detail elements of the hardware.

Interfaces

Represent the network interfaces of a device used to exchange data with connected devices. Each interface must be assigned a type, and may optionally include a MAC address, MTU and mode.

Interfaces may be virtual or physical (only physical interfaces may be connected through cables). Each interface may be assigned an IP address.

Device bays

Represent a slot within a parent device in which a child device may be installed. Child devices do not appear within rack elevations or count as consuming rack units.

The parent device must be associated to a device type which has been marked as a "parent". Each device installed in a bay is a separate instance of a device, which must be associated to a device type which has been marked as a "child".

Console ports

Provide connectivity to the physical console of the device. Console ports are typically connected to a console server (using cables).

Console server ports

Represents a port which provides connectivity to the physical console of connected devices. Typically used to manage devices regardless of their powered on state or whether they are functional (remote out-of-band access).

Typically you would create a console server port on the console server device, then add connections to the console ports of the relevant connected devices to be managed.

Power ports

Represents the inlet used to draw device power, such as a device's power supply.

If you intend to calculate the utilization of a power feed, each power port should be created with an allocated and maximum draw values. The exception to this is when a device supples power downstream to other devices, in which case the draw values should be set to 0, as the sum of the draw values from the downstream device power ports will be used.

You may indicate the power outlet or feed this port uses with cables.

Power outlets

Represents an outlet on a device capable of supply other devices with power.

Cables can be used to connect outlets to downstream power ports.

Front and rear ports

Front ports are pass-through ports which represent a section of physical cable connections on a longer path. The front port represents the port used for as the entry point of the cable. Each front port maps to a rear port (hence the pass-through), which represent the continuation of the cable path.

A front port may map to more than one rear port. Each rear port may be mapped to from multiple front ports by setting the "positions" attribute. This may be used where multiple paths use a common cable.

Inventory Items

Inventory items may be used to represent components installed within a device, such as a power supply or CPU.

Inventory items are hierarchical, meaning any individual item may be designated as the parent for other items in the same device.

Virtual Chassis

Represent a cluster of devices which appear as a single device. For example, a stack of switches which are connected and configured to operate as a single device.

In the Site Planner user interface, a virtual chassis may be created by first viewing a list of all devices (potentially filtered by the search panel). Select the members of the chassis and then click Create Virtual Chassis. You will need to specify the master device, which will be used to determine the name and services on this chassis.