You use Network Node specifications to define nodes for the various Network specifications in your inventory. When you add a network node to a network, you can associate a resource to a node. In UIM, nodes and the resources that they represent are modeled separately. This strategy gives you the flexibility required to keep your inventory up to date as equipment changes. A network can consist of nodes that represent a variety of different entities, or no entity at all.
You create Network Node specifications in the same manner as you create other types of specifications. See "Creating New Specifications" for more information.
When working with Network Node specifications, see the following topics:
You can limit the kinds of entities that a network node can represent. UIM uses the list of specifications with which a Network Node specification has relationships to restrict the entity types to which a node instance can be associated. If a relationship exists between a Network Node specification and a specification of any of the entity types a network node can represent, UIM allows the network node instance to be associated only with instances of the related specifications.
If a Network Node specification does not include any relationships to the entity types a network node can represent, then UIM allows node instances to be associated with any of the allowable entity types. See "Defining Specification Relationships" for more information about relationships.
Use the Network Node Specification editor to define nodes for the various Network specifications in your inventory.
When working with the Network Node Specification editor, see the following topics:
Use the Related Specifications tab to define and review specification relationships. Only relationships with the entity types listed in this tab are meaningful by default in UIM. If you add specifications to the Others section, you must define custom rulesets that trigger actions or behavior based on those relationships.
| Section | Use |
|---|---|
| Other Supported Entities | Lists specifications of entities that network nodes based on this specification can represent. Network nodes can represent Custom Network Address, Custom Object, Device Interface, Equipment, Logical Device, Network, Physical Device, and Physical Port entities. |
| Roles | Lists roles to which entities based on this Network Node specification can be assigned. |
| Others | Lists specifications of entities that have a customized relationship with entities based on this specification. |