Automated Composite Configuration Item Creation in CMDB
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Solution Overview
Problem
Large and complex IT service management environments with configuration management databases (CMDBs) face challenges in managing numerous entities and their relationships, leading to unmanageable volumes of data, which can result in inefficient service and management processes due to the need for manual creation of composite configuration items (CIs), increasing costs and effort.
Innovation Solution
The automatic creation of composite configuration items in a CMDB, where a plurality of configuration items and their relationships are discovered, loaded, and processed to create composite CIs based on types, allowing for the management of CI types via externalized policies and rules, reducing the need for manual intervention and minimizing the complexity of maintaining extensive CMDBs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual creation of composite configuration items is used, then control and information about IT infrastructure are maintained, but labor and time consumption increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs self-service by automatically discovering configuration items, determining their types, and creating composite CIs without requiring manual intervention. The discovery process autonomously identifies CIs across the IT infrastructure, classifies them according to predefined types, and assembles composite configurations automatically, eliminating the need for manual creation while maintaining comprehensive control.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-defining CI types, attributes, and relationships before the actual composite CI creation. Configuration templates and discovery criteria are established in advance, enabling the system to automatically create composite CIs by matching discovered items against these pre-established frameworks, thus reducing real-time manual effort.
2Loss of information
If more levels and detailed information are added to CMDB, then comprehensive representation of IT entities is achieved, but system complexity and maintenance effort increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the complex CMDB structure into manageable components by organizing configuration items into hierarchical levels and categorizing them into distinct types. Each level represents a specific abstraction tier (e.g., physical hardware, software components, services), and the segmentation enables systematic management of detailed information without overwhelming complexity in any single area.
Solution Approach 2:
The system manages complexity by dynamically adjusting parameters such as discovery depth, detail level, and inclusion criteria based on the specific requirements of each configuration item type. This allows comprehensive information representation for critical entities while maintaining simplified views for less complex items, optimizing the balance between detail and manageability.
3Productivity
If automatic discovery and loading of configuration items is implemented, then productivity increases, but system complexity for managing discovery processes increases
Solution Approach 1:
The discovery mechanism is designed with universality, serving multiple functions through a single integrated process. It simultaneously discovers configuration items, determines their types, validates attributes, and prepares them for composite CI creation. This multi-functionality increases productivity by eliminating multiple separate operations while managing complexity through a unified approach rather than multiple specialized systems.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatus of automatically creating composite configuration items in a configuration management database are provided. A plurality of configuration items and a corresponding plurality of configuration item relationships are provided to the configuration management database. One or more composite configuration items are created from one or more of the plurality of configuration items in accordance with one or more types of the plurality of configuration items.