Creating your inventory models

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated August 1, 2024
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Creating your inventory models

    As a ServiceNow Telecommunications Network Inventory catalog manager, you define metadata for network models through a series of forms. This metadata standardizes information such as equipment name, model number, and dimensions across all instances of a particular equipment type, ensuring compliance with vendor validations and preventing unsupported equipment creation.

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    Defining inventory models is foundational to generating network asset instances using inventory templates, enabling a comprehensive and accurate digital representation of your telecommunications network.

    Key Features

    • Equipment Model: Create records for new equipment introduced by vendors or OEMs, serving as the basis for generating network asset instances.
    • Equipment Holder Model: Define physical characteristics of equipment holders based on manufacturer recommendations.
    • Network Interface and Card Models: Specify metadata for network interfaces and interface cards to maintain consistency and support asset instantiation.
    • Physical and Logical Connection Models: Capture metadata for wired and logical connections, including import of models, adding attachments, optional fields, compatibilities, and substitutions.
    • Network Model Relationship: Define relationships between different network model records to represent network topology and dependencies accurately.
    • Network Topology Model: Define topology metadata to support design and assignment within your telecommunications network.
    • Inventory Model Tabs: Each model record includes tabs such as Bandwidth Capabilities, Assets, Configuration Items, Model Components, Vendor Catalog Items, Hardware Model Lifecycles, and Network Model Relationships, providing comprehensive details and management options for each model.

    Practical Application for ServiceNow Customers

    By systematically creating inventory models for each equipment type and defining their relationships, you establish a validated, consistent, and reusable set of metadata. This enables automated instantiation of accurate network assets, streamlines network design and assignment, and supports lifecycle management. Understanding and leveraging these model forms and their relationships will help you maintain a reliable digital twin of your telecommunications infrastructure, ensuring data integrity and operational efficiency.

    As an inventory catalog manager, you can use a series of forms to define the metadata for each network model in the Telecommunications Network Inventory. During this process, you also specify the relationships between each of these models.

    Inventory models overview

    The metadata that you define in an inventory model serves an important purpose when you create an associated template or instantiate an instance of equipment. It ensures that you adhere to the validations put in place by the equipment vendor so that you don’t create a non-supported piece of equipment.
    • The metadata that the inventory models contain, such as the name, model number, height, and depth, remain consistent across all individual instances of that particular type of equipment.
    • When you generate the equipment instances for an inventory model, they all contain this standard manufacturer information.
    Note:
    To learn more about creating templates and generating network assets from your model and template records, see
    To create a comprehensive digital model of your telecommunications network, do the following tasks:
    1. In the Equipment Model form, create inventory models for your telecommunications equipment.
      • Creating an equipment inventory model is the first requirement for setting up the process to generate network asset instances when using inventory templates.
      • You create an equipment model record every time a vendor or original equipment manufacturer (OEM) introduces new equipment for your use. To learn more, see Create an equipment model.
    2. In the Equipment Holder Model form, create the inventory model records for your equipment holders. To learn more, see Create an equipment holder model.
    3. In the Network Interface Model form, create the inventory model records for your network interfaces. To learn more, see Create a card model.
    4. In the Interface Cards Model form, create the inventory model records for your network interface cards. To learn more, see Create a network interface model.
    5. In the Physical Connection Model form, create the inventory model records for each physical or wired connection. To learn more, see Create a physical connection model.
    6. In the Logical Connection Model form, create inventory model records for each logical connection. To learn more, see Create a logical connection model.
    7. In the Network Model Relationship form, define the relationships between each model record in your network inventory. To learn more, see Define a network model relationship.

    Inventory model related tabs

    After you create inventory models, the information in the following table appears on these tabs in each inventory model record.
    Table 1. Inventory model tabs
    Tab Contains
    Bandwidth Capabilities Relation between the bandwidth and the physical and logical connection models that need to be added.
    Note:
    The Bandwidth Capabilities tab is available only on the physical and logical models.
    Assets Network asset information.
    Configuration Items Configuration Item (CI) that is associated with the model.
    Model Components Components in the model.
    Vendor Catalog Items Available network assets from various vendors.
    Hardware Model Lifecycles Life cycle information about the network asset.
    Network Model Relationships Related network inventory models.