Sugestions for a colocation equipment check-list

Sat Oct 26 17:49:53 UTC 2002

On 07:11 PM 10/23/02, Mike (meuon) Harrison wrote:
 >
 >On Wed, 23 Oct 2002, Dan Lockwood wrote:
 >
 >> Does anyone have a list of criteria that is collected when a customer
 >> brings equipment into a colocation facility?  Things may include make
 >> and model, number of power supplies, serial number, etc.  Any comments
 >> on this type of operation are greatly appreciated.
 >
 >On the paranoid side:

On the practical side:

A single line on a form, with fields for:

Make and model of item
Description of item or its use
Serial number
Inventory/ID tag (maybe)

Example:

Cisco 2501 Router SN# 123123123123  ID# 1234

At the top or bottom of the form are fields for the date, the company that 
owns the equipment (name, address, phone numbers etc.), the name and 
signature of person bringing it in (or removing it) and a place and for the 
Colo security person's signature who verifies the data against the 
equipment (sometimes).

This has been the standard procedure for all colos that I've installed 
equipment in to or taken equipment out of, including:

Above.net (several locations)
PAIX (several locations)
Exodus (several locations)
Equinix (several locations)
NTT in Tokyo

I've never been asked to open a case.  I've never been asked to list 
internal parts (power supplies, ram, hard drives, etc.) or external pieces 
(cables etc.).  I *have* had them paw thru my laptop bag looking for 
"suspicious items".  I have always had a wireless card with me (with my 
laptop) and never had anyone give it a second look.

Many colos require that you unbox your equipment before bringing it into 
the colo, and box it after removing it out of the colo (and of course they 
don't have provide any facility for you to do this on the outside of the 
security wall).  They *really* need better systems for handling boxing and 
IDing of equipment.

jc