Has anybody created CIs for iPads or other handheld devices?

[SandySeegers]

We currently manually maintain iPad asset information in our cmdb in cmdb_ci_computer. We need to formalize the management of these non-discoverable assets which will no doubt involve creating a new class.

Is anybody doing this already? I'm looking for input as to where to 'hang' the new class. These are the thoughts I have currently:
- extend a new u_cmdb_ci_ipad class from cmdb_ci
- extend a new u_cmdb_ci_handheld class from cmdb_ci and extend an iPad class from there. We currently only have iPads, but this leaves us open for similar classes in the future.
- extend a new u_cmdb_ci_ipad class from cmdb_ci_computer. There are many fields in common and management of this data is by the same folks who manage desktop assets so permissioning would be the same.


Any other thouhts?

Thanx

Sandy

[Glenn Goldman2]

Why not keep them in the cmdb_ci_computer class? You can distingush them from other "computers" via model, OS, Type or any other attribute you may be using. Not knowing all the details it is hard to draw a firm conclusion, but it does not seem like there is a business need to add an additional class. Keep it simple.

[SandySeegers]

The fact that they aren't discoverable is the primary driver behind splitting them out. We currently age assets from an 'In Service' state to an 'Unknown' state if they have not appeared in any feed or discovery process after 30 days. With iPads never appearing in a feed they would all show up with an 'Unknown' state 30 days after they showeded up 'In Service' in the db. Putting them in their own class allows us to exclude them from this automatted process.

Also, iPads are manage by a complete different group than Desktops. Creating a separate class allows us to easily manage permissioning with roles and ACLs.

Creating a new class is the simpler, cleaner solution for us.

[prdelong]

I assume you are setting the unknown state with a scheduled job. It would be easy to modify that scheduled job to accommodate them with in the script. You could easily add a query that excluded items with a discovery source (ie Service-Now) or another field (ie subcategory):

gr.addQuery('discovery_source','!=','Service-Now');

or

gr.addQuery('sub_category','!=','iPad');

Creating a new class and table for iPad seems like a good fit though. Roles and ACLs are never fun for ongoing maintenance.

[Cory Miller]

Yes, I have created an iPad class, extended from the Computer class.

It makes it easier to know what device you are selecting.

I show the class in the reference field while typing either the device name or the asset tag number.

Also, it makes it easier for the person maintaining them to find them by typing "ipad" in the filter at the top of the "navigator" menu on the left.