The following brief glossary provides basic definitions of Server Inventory terms:
Inventoried server: A server whose hardware and software data you want to scan and maintain in a central repository. To gather complete hardware and software inventory for a server, you must install the Inventory Agent on that server.
Inventory database: A repository of inventory information of all the inventoried servers.
Inventory server: A server where you run the Inventory service. This server can run any other ZfS 3 services also. The Inventory server collects the inventory data from a group of associated inventoried servers and stores it into the Inventory database. If you want to collect the inventory for the Inventory server, you must install the Inventory Agent on that Inventory server.
Database server: A server running Sybase* or Oracle* where your Inventory database is mounted. The database can run on an Inventory server or on a different server.
Management console: A Windows workstation or server running Novell ConsoleOne® with ZfS 3 Server Inventory ConsoleOne snap-ins installed. The management console provides the interface to administer the inventory system.
eDirectory Tree: The Novell eDirectoryTM tree consists of eDirectory objects such as multiple levels of organizational units, users, groups, and other network resources. This hierarchical structure is referred to as the eDirectory tree in this document. For more information, see the Novell eDirectory documentation Web site.
Inventory tree: A logical tree depicting the transmission of the inventory information from the inventoried servers and the Inventory servers to the centralized enterprise Inventory database.
Standalone Server: An Inventory server that has an Inventory database and inventoried servers attached to it. There is no roll-up of the inventory information.
Leaf Server: The lowest-level Inventory server in the inventory tree hierarchy. This server has one or more inventoried servers attached to it and can have the Inventory database attached to. This Inventory server collects the inventory information from the inventoried servers attached to it and moves the information to the next-level Inventory server.
Intermediate Server: The staging Inventory server for moving the data from the lower-level Inventory servers up the Inventory server hierarchy. This server can have inventoried servers or the Inventory database attached to it.
Root Server: The highest-level Inventory server in the inventory tree hierarchy. This server has a centralized Inventory database that contains the inventory information of all the lower-level Inventory servers. At the Root Server level, you can view complete inventory information for the entire enterprise. This server can have inventoried servers attached to it.
Inventory site: A single site with a simple network environment of inventoried servers and at least one Inventory server. A site is typically a geographical location. There can be multiple sites your enterprise.