Hardware Evaluation #
How a model of hardware is evaluated for a role. For a model in service, the record is its own page under Hardware. For a candidate, it is under Evaluations → Hardware until it is selected.
What is evaluated #
A model at a hardware revision, for a role. The same model in a different role, or at a different hardware revision, is a separate evaluation. Hardware revisions do change what a board carries, such as the NIC chipset.
It is evaluated with the software it will run: the OS and driver are part of what is tested, because a NIC’s maturity depends on the driver. The record names the software it was tested with. That software’s own evaluation is separate ( Software Evaluation).
Criteria #
Each criterion is checked and recorded as passed, failed, not tested or not applicable, with what was done and what was seen. How the columns work is in Evaluation.
| # | Criterion | Level | Passes when | How to check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| H1 | Unattended install | Required | The OS goes on from the site’s own artifacts (network boot, an unattended installer, or a pre-imaged disk) with no step beyond choosing the boot device | Install it twice from the artifact server with the upstream unplugged. Both come up identical and reachable |
| H2 | Console access | Required | A local console, BIOS or recovery interface can be reached with the network down, using only the cables and adapters in the kit | Reach the login prompt and the BIOS with the kit alone, and write the route down as a console-recovery page |
| H3 | Recovery from factory state | Required | After a factory reset, it returns to service from code and a written procedure | Reset it on the bench and rebuild it with the automation. Record how long it took and every manual step |
| H4 | NIC and driver | Required | The NIC chipset is identified. On the chosen OS and driver, a 24-hour soak logs no link resets, watchdog timeouts or driver errors, and holds at least 90% of line rate | Run iperf3 in both directions for 24 hours through every port the role uses, then read the kernel or system log |
| H5 | Management from code | Required for network devices | The automation configures it through an API or CLI, and a second run changes nothing | Apply the role’s configuration twice. The second run reports no changes |
| H6 | Offline firmware upgrade | Required | Firmware and BIOS upgrade from a file on the artifact server, with no internet. The rollback path is known, or the upgrade is declared irreversible | Upgrade on the bench from the mirrored file with the upstream unplugged |
| H7 | Power | Required | It runs from the kit’s power. After power is pulled, it comes back on by itself, in the same configuration | Measure the draw at idle and under load. Pull the power three times |
| H8 | Thermals | Required | No thermal throttling or thermal shutdown through 4 hours of sustained load, inside the case it will live in | A stress tool, or the role’s own load, for 4 hours while reading the sensors and the kernel log |
| H9 | Remote power-on | Preferred | It can be woken over the network (Wake-on-LAN) from the site’s router | Wake it from soft-off |
| H10 | Role minimums | Required | It meets every minimum its role’s page states: ports, NICs, RAM, storage | Compare the spec sheet and the running system with the role page |
| H11 | Longevity | Required | The vendor has shipped a firmware update in the last 24 months, and the model can still be bought or a spare is held | The vendor’s download page, and a retailer or the spares shelf |
Where these came from. H4 is INC-0004, a Realtek NIC that timed out in service. H2 and H3 are the switch and AP, which have no console and are recovered by factory reset ( Resiliency). H6 is the AP’s firmware chain, one step of which could not be undone ( CHG-0005).
Process #
- Open the record. Create the item if it’s new, and a revision page for this evaluation, with the verdict Under evaluation.
- Evaluate on the bench, against every criterion, with the software named in the record. Nothing in service depends on it yet.
- Record the evidence. For each criterion: the result, what was tested, how, and what was seen.
- Set the verdict. The operator decides. Approved with conditions names each Required criterion it misses or couldn’t test, and what would clear it.
- Update the item page: its current verdict, and the new row in its revisions table.
- Select it. Only an approved model becomes a selection on its role’s page. A candidate’s page moves from Evaluations to Hardware when it is selected, and keeps its revisions.
A rejection is kept like an approval. The next evaluation of that model starts from what is already known.