I’m in the process of putting together a SQL Server hardware inventory/audit checklist for an upcoming book project. The purpose of this list is to provide a comprehensive listing of all the important information about the components of a physical server used to run SQL Server. Besides collecting hardware information, it is also designed to collect some configuration information that may be of importance for SQL Server performance and high availability.
Below is the current version of my SQL Server hardware inventory/audit checklist, which is in the form of a spreadsheet that can be used not only to collect and store the information, but it can also be customized as needed by DBAs to better meet their environment.
| The Basics | |
| Hardware Manufacturer: | |
| Model Number: | |
| Serial Number: | |
| Physical Location of Server: | |
| Tower/Rack/Blade | |
| Warranty/Service Contract Number: | |
| Warranty/Service Telephone Number: | |
| CPU | |
| Number of CPU Sockets: | |
| Number of Installed CPUs: | |
| CPU Model: | |
| CPU Ghz Speed: | |
| Number of Cores per CPU: | |
| Type of Hyperthreading: | |
| Is Hyperthreading on or off: | |
| CPU L2 Cache Size: | |
| CPU Bus Speed: | |
| Memory | |
| Current Amount of RAM: | |
| Additional RAM Capacity Available: | |
| 32-bit or 64-bit: | |
| ERC Memory: | |
| Network Adapter | |
| Hardware Manufacturer: | |
| Model Number: | |
| Speed: | |
| Number of Ports per Card: | |
| Number of Cards: | |
| BIOS Version Number: | |
| Is BIOS Version Current: | |
| NIC Duplex Setting: | |
| Storage | |
| Type: Local, DAS, SAN, Combo: | |
| Number of Disk Controllers: | |
| SAS, SATA, SCSI, iSCSI, Fibre Channel: | |
| Controller Hardware Manufacturer: | |
| Controller Model Number: | |
| Controller Cache Size: | |
| Is Their a Cache Battery: | |
| Is Write Back Caching On: | |
| Controller BIOS Version Number: | |
| Is Controller BIOS Version Current: | |
| Local Disk Configuration | |
| RAID Configuration: | |
| Number of Physical Drives: | |
| Physical Dimension of Drives: | |
| Drive Capacity: | |
| Drive Speed/RPM: | |
| Number of Logical Drives: | |
| Total Available Disk Space: | |
| DAS Disk Configuration | |
| RAID Configuration: | |
| Number of Drives: | |
| Physical Dimension of Drives: | |
| Drive Capacity: | |
| Drive Speed/RPM: | |
| Number of Logical Drives: | |
| Total Available Disk Space: | |
| SAN Disk Configuration | |
| SAN Manufacturer: | |
| SAN Model: | |
| iSCSI, Fibre Channel: | |
| SAN Cache Capacity: | |
| SAN Software Version: | |
| Is SAN Software Current: | |
| Number of Attached LUNs: | |
| RAID Configuration per LUN: | |
| Number of Drives Used per LUN: | |
| Capacity of Drives Used in LUNs: | |
| Speed of Drives Used in LUNs: | |
| Available Disk Space per LUN: | |
| Are LUNs Shared or Dedicated: | |
| High Availability | |
| Redundant Power Supplies: | |
| Redundant NICs: | |
| Redundant Controllers: | |
| All Components Connected to UPS: | |
| Is Server Physically Secure: | |
| If Cooling Required, is it Redundant: | |
| Clustering | |
| Number of Cluster Nodes: | |
| Number of Active Nodes: | |
| Number of Passive Nodes: | |
| Type of Quorum: | |
| Type of Shared Storage: | |
| Are HBAs Redundant: | |
| Are Storage Switches Redundant: | |
| Are NIC Switches Redundant: | |
| Are NICs Redundant: | |
| Backup | |
| Tape Drive: Internal/External: | |
| Tape Drive Manufacturer: | |
| Tape Drive Model: | |
| Local Disk: | |
| DAS Disk: | |
| SAN Disk: |
I would really like your input on this list. For example:
–What is missing from the list? What hardware or configuration information should I add?
–What on the list could be removed because it is not very important? Keep in mind that the list is designed to be generic, so there will be items on the list that will not be applicable to all SQL Server environments.
–Does my wording make sense, or should I change any of the wording so that it is more understandable or more accurate?
If you are already using your own hardware inventory checklist, I would appreciate it if you could e-mail me a copy (empty of course) of it to bradmcgehee@hotmail.com. I won’t share the list, but I would like to see how you are keeping track of hardware-related information. Thanks!
