Tagging system for devices

[cwscribner]

The Idea: A system of "tagging" devices in order to put them into multiple groups without having to create multiple hostgroups.

The Use: Often with forums or blogs, you can assign multiple tags to a post and that allows it to be searchable by searching any of the attached tags. This functionality would save an insurmountable amount of time by needing less hostgroups; particularly for reporting.

The Example: The installation that I'm currently working on is a great example. There's roughly 180 hostgroups. There are roughly 30 hostgroups for grouping by site. There are hostgroups for device types, hostgroups for device function, and various other reasons. The application of a tag function would eliminate a huge majority of the hostgroups by allowing multiple tags on a device. Device A could have several tags that provide a wealth of information about it. Device A could have the following tags: NYC (site/location) -- CentOS 5 (OS) -- John Doe (Device Owner) -- Mail Server (Function). There's four hostgroups eliminated and possibly several hundred devices grouped.

NOTE: After reading this, I realize the way I explained it may seem a bit convoluted so just ask for clarification.