Best practices for NIZU Cloud Infrastructure

Name assets the way your team talks

Use the name people say out loud — hel1-prod-01, shop-db, mail-relay — not the provider's serial number. The provider's id has its own field and the sync uses it; the name is for humans.

Let each App own its facts

Put the password in Password Manager, the SSH connection in Terminal, the monitor in NizuUptime, and link them from the asset. Do not paste a password into the asset's notes. When a linked record disagrees with the asset about the hostname, the asset page shows a drift warning — fix the record that is wrong, in the App that owns it.

Use containment only for containment

"Runs on" is for a service on a server or a container on a node. Everything else — depends on, serves, monitors, credentials for — is a link. A link can be added and removed without touching the asset.

Mark the critical ones

Criticality is what drives the "critical without a monitor" finding. Be honest about it: if losing an asset would stop a client's business, it is critical, and it should have an uptime monitor linked.

Post costs net, with the tax

Enter the amount before VAT and pick the tax rate. The Expenses module applies the tax on top. An asset priced at 58 including VAT and posted as 58 with a 21% tax becomes 70.18 in every report.

Post once, let NIZU recur

A monthly plan is one recurring expense. Do not post it every month by hand; NIZU generates the following cycles. If you decommission the asset, stop the expense in the Expenses module — the reconciliation screen lists the ones you forgot.

Reconcile monthly

When a provider's invoice arrives, open Reconciliation for that month. A difference beyond the tolerance means either an asset without a posted expense, an expense without an asset, or a price change at the provider. Each is worth five minutes.

Sync is a diff, not a button

Always read the difference table before applying. A vanished asset is proposed for decommission, never deleted, and it is unticked by default — decide yourself.

Keep the client portal narrow

Switch the portal on only when a client asks for it, and grant the smallest set: usually "see their assets" and "see monitoring status". Costs shown to a client include the markup and are what you would invoice; make sure that is what you want them to see.

Switch on the daily digest

One email a day listing renewals due, warranties ending, decommissioned assets still costing and critical assets without a monitor. It is the cheapest insurance in the App.