Maintaining Reference Information

Create a technical reference library for all hardware and software documentation. This library can also include other documentation related to your computers that you want to have in a central location. The types of information for this library are:

• Vendor documentation, including manuals, receipts, warranties, proofs of purchase, and the like.
• Insurance policy and any claims.
• Information about any kits, tools, and add-ons that you have installed.
• All internal documentation that you have generated, including policies, procedures, training guides, and the like.
• Hardware configuration information for each of the computers, including, but not limited to, the following:
  • Their location, cabling, intermediary devices, and external connections.
  • Computer type, model number, serial number, motherboard, and CPU.
  • Computer BIOS manufacturer and revision level (x86-based computers) or firmware revision level (RISC-based computers).
  • CMOS information for x86-based computers.
  • Firmware information on RISC-based computers.
  • For each component, information such as IRQ, DMA addresses, and I/O port.
  • Amount of RAM, parity or non-parity.
  • Information about the video display and the video card.
  • Complete configuration of the disk subsystem, including the makes, models, and serial numbers of all disks and controllers, and their type (such as SCSI or EIDE).
  • Configuration information for other storage media, such as tape, optical disk, or removable disk.
  • Types and configuration of network cards.
  • Configuration information about any other adapters, such as multiport adapters.
• Software configuration information and backups for each computer, including:
  • Disk map, describing location and size of each partition and logical drive.
  • Backups of each Master Boot Record and Partition Boot Sector.
  • Windows NT startup floppy disk.
  • Windows NT versions installed and the partitions on which they are installed.
  • User information, including which users are allocated disk space and what utilities and application programs they are using.
  • Backups of the system configuration files, including the Registry.
  • Which application programs are installed on which volumes.
  • Licensing information.
• Phone List
  • Notification plan of who to contact for which kinds of problems or emergencies, and how to notify them.
  • Administrators.
  • Vendor and consultant support.
  • Management.
  • Critical Users.