In software configuration management, which of the following activities is not a primary concern of configuration management?

Introduction / Context:
Configuration management in software engineering focuses on controlling and tracking changes to software artifacts. These artifacts include source code, build scripts, documentation, test cases, and other items that define a software system. The aim is to ensure integrity, traceability, and reproducibility of the product across its life cycle. This question asks you to identify which activity is outside the typical scope of software configuration management.

Given Data / Assumptions:

The domain is software configuration management, not general IT administration.
Configuration management mainly deals with software items and their documentation.
One option describes a hardware related decision which is separate from configuration management of software artifacts.

Concept / Approach:
Software configuration management (often abbreviated as CM) includes version control, change control, build management, and release management for configuration items. Configuration items are logically related pieces of information such as modules, documents, or test suites. CM systems allow teams to maintain baselines, revert to earlier versions, and track who changed what and why. In contrast, selecting hardware platforms, servers, or devices is usually part of infrastructure design or system architecture, not configuration management itself. Although CM tools may record environment details, the choice of hardware configuration is not their primary concern.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Identify options that clearly refer to managing software versions, source code, or documentation changes.Step 2: Recognize that versioning, change control, and documentation management are core responsibilities of configuration management.Step 3: Look for any option that refers instead to hardware or physical infrastructure choices.Step 4: Select that hardware related option as the one not concerned with configuration management.

Verification / Alternative check:
As an alternative check, remember that configuration management tools such as version control systems and change management systems operate primarily on files and documents. They handle software, scripts, and descriptive artifacts. Decisions about processor type, memory size, number of servers, or storage arrays belong to system design or operations. Therefore, an option that refers purely to hardware choices falls outside the usual CM scope and is the correct answer for what configuration management is not concerned with.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A is wrong as an answer because maintaining software versions is a central configuration management function.
Option B is wrong because controlling documentation changes is an important part of CM, ensuring consistency between documentation and source code.
Option C is wrong because controlling changes to source code is one of the main reasons configuration management exists in software projects.

Common Pitfalls:
A common pitfall is to think that configuration management means managing every type of configuration in an organization, including hardware, network, and facilities. In software engineering, CM focuses mainly on software artifacts and their evolution. Another mistake is to assume that any use of the word configuration automatically implies configuration management responsibility. Always distinguish between software configuration items under version control and broader system configuration tasks handled by infrastructure or operations teams.

Final Answer:
Choosing the hardware configuration on which an application will run