Strategies for assigning weights

Weight values are assigned to ICIM classes and instances in the weights.conf file.

Weights can be assigned to any class or instance by specifying one of the following keywords:

• ClassWeight

• InstanceNameWeight

• InstanceWeight

  The syntax in the file is as follows:

  ClassWeight <class_name> <value>
  InstanceNameWeight <class_name> <DisplayName> <value>
  InstanceNameWeight <class_name> <full_instance_name> <value>
  InstanceWeight <class_name> <instance_name> <value>
  

  For the keyword InstanceNameWeight, business classes are specified by their DisplayName, without a prefix. For all other classes, you must specify the <full_instance_name>, or the complete name of the element, including the prefix of the element. For <instance_name>, you can specify the DisplayName or you can specify a wildcard pattern. The symbols for wildcards are listed and described in the weights.conf file.

  When you assign weight values to elements, categorize the elements according to their importance within your environment. Then, assign greater values to the elements that are more important to your business.

  For example:

  ClassWeight     ICIM_ManagedElement 1
  InstanceNameWeight  BusinessProcess Inventory 4000
  InstanceNameWeight  Application APP-Inventory Service 4000
  InstanceWeight      Router *[Gg][Ww]* 1000
  

  Similarly, you can assign varying weights to service subscribers:

  ClassWeight   Organization    1000
  ClassWeight   BusinessUnit    1200
  ClassWeight   LOB             1400
  ClassWeight   Department      1600
  ClassWeight   Customer        1800
  

  In Business Impact Manager’s calculations, the weight assigned to an instance takes precedence over the weight assigned to a class, and the weight assigned to a subclass takes precedence over the weight assigned to the parent class.