# Board identification methods

Within NMS OAM, each board is referenced using the following identifiers:

- A unique name.

- A board number. Each board in a host has a unique board number.

- A unique PCI bus and slot in which the board is located.

The following secondary ID information is also available:

- A driver name and driver board ID combination. The driver name is unique among all driver names on the host. The driver board ID is unique among all boards accessed by a given driver. However, two boards accessed by different drivers can have the same driver board ID. The driver name and driver board ID together make up an ID for the board that is unique within the host.

- A serial number if supported. This number is assigned at the factory, and is not present for all boards.

- CompactPCI CG and CX boards only. A unique shelf and slot in which the board is located. The shelf refers to the backplane or portion of the backplane in which the board is installed. Slot refers to the physical slot within the chassis where the board is located.

Note: Implementation of shelf and slot differs depending upon the chassis manufacturer and specific hardware settings. Shelf and slot information is available only with boards installed in CompactPCI chassis with a bus that complies with PICMG 2.1. Refer to the chassis documentation for more information.

- Boards with Ethernet capability only. Unique MAC addresses, one for each Ethernet controller on each board.

The following illustration shows board identification options:

In a multiple-host NMS OAM configuration, it is possible to have boards in different hosts with the same board name and board number. However, to avoid confusion, give each board a name and number that is unique to the entire host.