Capture physical server data

Physical servers are devices and hardware that are tangible assets owned by an organization . Virtual servers are run on top of physical servers which are located in different locations around the world. Documenting physical servers and their virtual servers and where they are located is critical for disaster recovery management.

Users with the user profiles Portfolio Manager and Portfolio Admin can add and edit physical servers in Alfabet. Click for an overview of permission concepts.

In the navigation panel, click Technical Architecture > Physical Servers.​ Per default, the data workbench displays only a set of basic attributes. You can add more columns to capture other attributes directly in the data workbench or you can navigate to a physical server's content area and define it in more detail there. Click to learn about how to use data workbenches.

Go to Technology Architecture > Physical Servers data workbench and click New > Physical Server.

Click the Navigate   button next to a physical server to open its content area. Specify the physical server's basic data as well as the relationships that the physical server has to other assets in the repository.

• Name: (Mandatory) Enter a unique name for the physical server.
• Version: (Mandatory) Enter a version number for the physical server. The name and version number of the physical server should be unique.
• Release Status: (Optional) This is an approval status and typically indicates the level of quality of the information about the physical server. The release status determines whether a physical server can or cannot be deleted. Possible values are:
  • Draft: The physical server has only mandatory data defined.
  • Under Review: The physical server is documented and being reviewed. A physical server with this release status cannot be deleted.
  • Approved: The physical server has been approved by the responsible stakeholders. A physical server cannot be deleted when it has an approved release status. A physical server with this release status cannot be deleted.
  • Data imported: The data regarding this physical server has been imported from an external system. Additional changes may be required to improve the data quality. A physical server with this release status can be deleted.
  • Trash: The physical server is no longer valid and can be deleted.
• Server Type: Select whether the server is an application server, Web server, mail server, FTP server, collaboration server, database server or another type of server.
• Serial Number: Enter the physical server's serial number.
• Location: Select the location where the physical server is.

  location

  A location is a geographic place that could be a country, city, building, or room, for example.

• Virtual Servers: Specify the virtual servers that run on the physical server.

  virtual server

  A virtual server is typically an application server or web server. Virtual servers typically run on physical servers that are located in different locations around the world.

• Authorized Access tab: The user who creates the physical server is the authorized user per default. This can be changed. Select one or more authorized user groups that shall have write permissions to the object. All users in the authorized user group can edit the physical server.

  authorized user

  An authorized user has primary responsibility to maintain the data for an object. Typically this is the user that has created the object. The authorized user as well as members of authorized user groups have write permissions to objects they are responsible for.

  authorized user group

  An authorized user group is a set of users that have been granted write permissions to an object. More than one authorized user group may be specified for an object.

• Description: Enter a meaningful description that will clarify the purpose of the physical server.

Define the physical server's lifecycle. Go to the Lifecycle Data attribute section and specify the following:

• Start Date and End Date: (Mandatory) The start and end date captures the period when the physical server is actively running and can be used in the company. This is also when the Object State attribute should be specified as Active. Click the calendar icon to select the date or enter the date in the date format Month/Day/Year. For example: 4/30/2023
• Object State: (Mandatory) The object state describes the use of the physical server in the real word. This can be understood as the operational status of the physical server. Possible values are:
  • Plan: The physical server is proposed to be used and still in the stages of planning and building.
  • Active: The physical server is currently and used now. The active period begins with the physical server's start date and ends with the end date.
  • Retired: The physical server is no longer used.

  The object state should be changed from Plan to Active once the physical servers start date is reached. It should be changed to Retire when the physical server's end data is reached.

A role represents a functional responsibility that a user or organization has for the physical server. ssigning roles to users and organizations is critical to understanding responsibility for assets in the IT and is required to answer the business question Who is responsible for our assets?

Responsibilities are based on preconfigured role types. Your company may also configure custom role types via the Portfolio Admin user profile. Depending on the role type, a specified user and/or a specified organization may fulfill the responsibility for the physical server. A user assigned responsibility via a role has read-only permissions to the business capability. To change data about the physical server, they must also be specified as an authorized user or member of an authorized user group.

Roles can be assigned to a physical server in the Physical Servers data workbench or the physical server content area via Overview > Responsibilities. A person or organization can have one of the following roles or a custom role added by your company:

• Asset Owner: A person or IT organization that owns the physical server and thus typically responsible for approval decisions.
• Stakeholder: A person or organization that has an interest in the physical server and therefore requires read-only access permissions.

To specify responsibilities for the physical server:

1. Click in the relevant role field to open the selector.
2. Expand the ORGANIZATION or USER sections in the selector and select the person or organization fulfilling the role.
3. Click OK to save the role definition and close the selector.

• How will IT failure impact our business?