Sometimes you need to know the hardware details of a physical linux box. You might need to know this for asset inventory, or warranty reasons
Some data is held in the DMI (or SMBIOS) tables.
bios, system, baseboard, chassis, processor, memory, cache, connector, slot
$ sudo dmidecode -t 2
# dmidecode 3.2
Getting SMBIOS data from sysfs.
SMBIOS 3.0.0 present.
Handle 0x0002, DMI type 2, 15 bytes
Base Board Information
Manufacturer: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
Product Name: MAXIMUS VIII HERO
Version: Rev 1.xx
Serial Number: 151158051401669
Asset Tag: Default string
Features:
Board is a hosting board
Board is replaceable
Location In Chassis: Default string
Chassis Handle: 0x0003
Type: Motherboard
Contained Object Handles: 0 0 BIOS
1 System
2 Baseboard
3 Chassis
4 Processor
5 Memory Controller
6 Memory Module
7 Cache
8 Port Connector
9 System Slots
10 On Board Devices
11 OEM Strings
12 System Configuration Options
13 BIOS Language
14 Group Associations
15 System Event Log
16 Physical Memory Array
17 Memory Device
18 32-bit Memory Error
19 Memory Array Mapped Address
20 Memory Device Mapped Address
21 Built-in Pointing Device
22 Portable Battery
23 System Reset
24 Hardware Security
25 System Power Controls
26 Voltage Probe
27 Cooling Device
28 Temperature Probe
29 Electrical Current Probe
30 Out-of-band Remote Access
31 Boot Integrity Services
32 System Boot
33 64-bit Memory Error
34 Management Device
35 Management Device Component
36 Management Device Threshold Data
37 Memory Channel
38 IPMI Device
39 Power Supply
40 Additional Information
41 Onboard Devices Extended Information
42 Management Controller Host Interface