Track every server, firewall, patch, and cable with this IT asset download

by Paul Baldwin | Oct 15, 2002 7:00:00 AM

Takeaway: Consultants, especially those who perform IT assessments or who handle network admin duties for their clients, need an easy way to keep track of equipment. This spreadsheet can make that task simple.

Consultants who perform IT assessments or who are hired for network admin duties for their clients will often find haphazard records of a client’s IT assets. That situation presents problems in a number of areas, including cases where you need to determine when the warranty on a router will expire or when your printers go off lease.

Our IT asset spreadsheet can help you work through this task. This Excel spreadsheet includes tabs for:

Production Servers and Development Servers: These two worksheets include 29 columns to help you record domains, location on the server rack, the application the server is running, whether it’s been partitioned, and the amount of partition space, disk configuration, and administrative passwords.
Hubs-Switches-Routers: This section includes columns for each device (e.g., a 48 port hub or a Cisco router), its function, the location, and the model number.
VPN-Firewall: The samples on this spreadsheet include space for passwords, OS, and function.
Printers: This worksheet has columns for users, location, model, and serial numbers, as well as MAC and IP addresses.
Switchroom Patches: This section tracks updates to servers.
Dead Equipment: What have you taken offline? This worksheet can help you determine what you’ve stopped using, its function, and where it was located.

Modify any of these tabs to fit the needs of your organization. We have also included a blank telecom worksheet and a Misc-Other worksheet for additional equipment.

This spreadsheet was sent in by TechRepublic member Frank Fazekas, a network engineer for Hotel Information Systems, an Irvine, CA-based company that makes property management, corporate management, reservation, business intelligence, and systems integration solutions.

Fazekas says he has used similar spreadsheets while working for Deloitte & Touche, where he worked with more than 7,000 users and 175 servers, and Lehman Brothers, which had 2,600 users and 68 servers. In his current job, he has 200 users at the HIS headquarters.

Fazekas says the key to keeping the spreadsheet accurate is to have all IT staff be able to document changes to the network but to limit the number of people who can edit the spreadsheet.

Fazekas said he also has techs use Word documents to track maintenance, software installations, or other upkeep. He also keeps floppies with config files and drivers for each server with each maintenance document. Finally, he keeps Visio diagrams that show representations of how the network is connected.

Join the discussion
Frank Fazekas will join in the discussion below to answer questions about documentation and asset tracking. Submit questions and join the discussion through Oct. 21, 2002.

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