- CMDB
A
configuration management database (CMDB) is a repository of information related to all the components of aninformation system . Although repositories similar to CMDBs have been used by IT departments for many years, the term CMDB stems fromITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library). In the ITIL context, a CMDB represents the authorized configuration of the significant components of the IT environment. A key goal of a CMDB is to help an organization understand the relationships between these components and track their configuration. The CMDB is a fundamental component of the ITIL framework's Configuration Management process. CMDB implementations often involve integration with other systems, such as Asset Management Systems. These integrations may make use of either a real-time, federated design or an ETL (extract, transform, load) solution.Purpose
The CMDB records (
configuration item s or "CIs") contain details about the important attributes and relationships between CIs. Configuration managers usually describe CIs using three configurable attributes:
# Technical
# Ownership
# RelationshipA key success factor in implementing a CMDB is the ability to automatically discover information about the CIs (auto-discovery) and track changes as they happen.
CMDBs contain metadata, and thus the concept overlaps with that of a
metadata repository which are both used in running large IT organizations. Configuration management addresses how the data is to be kept up to date, which has historically been a weakness of metadata repositories.References
* Office of Government Commerce (OGC), ed.: Service Support. IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL). The Stationery Office, Norwich, UK (2000)
* OGC, ed.: Introduction to ITIL. IT Infrastructure Library. The Stationery Office (2005)ee also
*
ITIL External links
* [http://www.cmdbf.org CMDB Federation Workgroup]
* [http://www.cmdb.info/pd1/html/index.php?name=Sections&req=listarticles&secid=2 How to build a CMDB] with open source software (VM Guests also available for download)
* [http://www.cmdbuild.org CMDBuild] An open source software to build a CMDB system
* [http://www.itskeptic.org/node/25 ITIL's dead elephant: CMDB can't be done]
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