CMDB (Configuration Management Database)<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

The goal of CMDB is to build and maintain an asset database of hardware, software, associated documents and their relationships.The main idea behind CMDB is to build an asset repository that can be uniquely identified, controlled and managed.

What will the CMDB have?

CMDB should contain information on all the critical components of the business.

• People: User name, department they belong to, location...and so on

• Assets: All assets that are part of business such as workstation, desktop, routers, printers

• Software: All paid software installed in your IT environment

The assets and components in the CMDB are known and Configured Items (CIs).

The FedEx quote is so true for CMDB“Information about a package is as important as the package itself “- Mike Glenn, Fedex.

Where should I Start?

The first thing you need to implement a CMDB is a plan. Here are a few process guidelines that can help you draft a good plan.

Plan：Have a clear idea of

• Why you should have a CMDB

• What you plan to achieve

• Who will control and manage

• The procedures to be followed

Identify：Assets/CIs have to be uniquely identified; so,

you should have a system to

• Define pattern for label name

• An identifier to easily locate and version number

• A provision to define owners for the CIs and relationships with other CIs

Control：Maintain a controlled environment of CIs so that only CIs are added, modified or removed through a specific procedure. All your assets need not be in the CMDB; you can choose to have the ones that really matter to your business.

Asset Life Cycle Management Status：It is important to track assets throughout their life cycle. Assets can be in maintenance, in repair or in a live environment. Asset Life cycle reports can useful for determining maintainability and dependability of the assets.

Audit and Verify：CMDB is not a one-time thing. Conduct timely audits to ensure that the CMDB reflects live environments. If you fail on a periodic update, CMDB will be only a myth.

Understand the Spirit of CMDB

Also, remember that the goal of CMDB is to build an asset repository with all the information about the assets. An asset repository can be logical and distributed. Building a CMDB does not mean trying to have everything in one big physical database.

A Definitive Software Library (DSL) is essential

With software releases every quarter and security patches every week, it is important to include the copies of software in a live environment. If one of your important servers crashes and you have the version number of the software, but not a copy of the exact same version with you, you could land yourself in big trouble.

Have a Baseline Configuration

Baseline configuration is a snapshot of CMDB. In every IT environment there are so many systems with different configurations, software, memory, processors and what not. When you have so many variables, you have to make sure that any change you make supports all versions. It is simply inviting trouble. IT managers have to plan and reduce the number of variables so that you have them under control. You could standardize on a stable operating system and version of browser and ensure that everyone is on the optimum configuration baseline.Eg: You can define a baseline to ensure that all business applications run normally。

Now you can generate the list of users who meet the standards and fall below the standard and you have a program to move users below the baseline to meet the baseline so that issues and fixes can be applicable to all.

 

CMDB（配置管理数据库）

配置管理数据库的目标是建立和维护一个硬件、软件相关联的资产数据库。 主要是要建立一个资产信息库，可以被唯一识别，控制和管理。

配置管理数据库的内容是什么？

包含的所有关键业务组件的信息：

•使用者：用户姓名、部门、所属部门，位置等；

•资产：所有业务的组成，工作站、台式机、路由器、打印机；

•软件：所有安装在IT环境的付费软件；

在配置管理数据库的资产和组成部分要有已知和配置项目（CI）。

比如：联邦快递的报价如同配置管理数据库，“关于包的信息和包本身一样重要” - 迈克格伦，联邦快递。

我们应该在哪里开始？

首先，你需要实现一个CMDB计划。这里有一些进程的指导方针可以帮助我们草拟计划。

 计划：要有明确的理念。

•为什么你应该有一个CMDB

•你怎么计划去实施

•谁能够控制和管理

•应遵循的流程

确定：资产/独联体必须唯一标识，你应该有一个系统。

•定义标签的名称模式

•易于找到的标识符和版本号

•一项规定对定义管理者与其他资产的关系

控制：维护一个受控的资产环境，可以让资产添加，修改或删除通过具体程序。所有的资产不需都在CMDB中，你可以选择那些真正对业务重要的。

资产生命周期管理状况：对于跟踪他们整个的使用周期很重要，资产生命周期可以报告资产在可维护和可靠性。

审计和验证：CMDB是不是一次性的，及时进行审计，以确保CMDB的资产状况，如果你定期更新失败，CMDB将成为笑话。

了解CMDB的内涵

记住CMDB的目标是建立一个与所有资产有关的资产仓库，资产仓库可以是合乎逻辑的分布式信息库， CMDB的构建并不意味着要准备一个大的物理数据库。

最终软件库（DSL）是必要的

随着软件每季度发布和每星期安全补丁，重要的是包括在真实环境中软件的拷贝。如果一台重要的服务器崩溃，我们有该软件的版本号，但不能确定版本号，那么就有×××烦。

有一个基本配置

基本配置是CMDB的快照。在每一个IT环境中，人们用很多系统，有着不同的配置、软件、内存、处理器等。当我们有这么多的变量，必须确保任何改变能够支持的所有版本，这会增加麻烦。 IT经理计划和减少变量的数目，以便能够更好地管理。我们可以规范一个稳定的操作系统和浏览器的版本，并确保每个人都在最佳配置基线。 例如：可以定义基准以确保所有业务应用程序正常运行。

现在，您可以生成的符合标准和低于标准的用户列表，你有一个方法去改变低于标准的用户，以满足用户的基准，使问题和解决可以适用于所有。