CIM Reference Guide

20 CIM_PhysicalElement
One card, for example, could implement both a modem and a local area
network (LAN) adapter. In this case, the card would be represented by a single
physical element associated with multiple logical devices.
Table 2-1. CIM_PhysicalElement Properties
Class Name: CIM_PhysicalElement
Parent Class: CIM_ManagedSystemElement
Property Description Data Type
CreationClassN
ame
See Table 1-1.
Manufacturer See Table 1-1.
Model The name by which the physical element is generally
known.
string
SerialNumber A manufacturer-allocated number used to identify the
physical element.
string
Tag Uniquely identifies the physical element and serves as
the element’s key. The Ta g property can contain
information such as asset tag or serial number data.
The key for a physical element is placed very high in the
object hierarchy in order to identify the hardware/entity
independently, regardless of the physical placement in
or on cabinets, adapters, and so on. For example, a hot-
swappable or removable component can be taken from
its containing (scoping) package and be temporarily
unused. The object still continues to exist and may even
be inserted into a different scoping container.
Therefore, the key for the physical element is an
arbitrary string that is defined independently of any
placement or location-oriented hierarchy.
string