An information technology (IT) infrastructure of an enterprise (e.g., a company, an educational organization, a government agency, etc) can include a wide variety of electronic devices, associated software components, and database components. A configuration item can be employed to define a configuration of an electronic device, a software component, or a database component. A “configuration” can include an attribute associated with an electronic device (or a portion of the electronic device), an attribute associated with a software component, and/or an attribute associated with a database component
Some embodiments of the invention are described with respect to the following figures:
Generally, a configuration management system according to some embodiments is provided to bundle configuration items for visualization. As depicted in
A configuration item represents a discrete unit of a configuration relating to an electronic device (or a portion of an electronic device), a software component, and/or a database component. Examples of electronic devices include computers, storage array systems, memory devices, central processing units (CPUs), communications devices such as routers or switches, personal digital assistants (PDAs), smart telephones, and so forth. Examples of software components include operating systems, device drivers, software applications, file systems, and so forth. Examples of database components include data structures such as databases, tables, files, and so forth, used for storing data. More generally, an electronic device (or electronic device portion), software component, and/or database component is referred to as information technology (IT) component. A configuration of an IT component includes at least one attribute (e.g., speed of CPU, size of file system, type of operating system, etc.) of the IT component.
A composite CI is composed of a collection of configuration items that are related to each other. In some implementations, a composite CI is composed of a main configuration item and internal configuration items of the main configuration item. For example, the main configuration item can be a host system, while the internal configuration items can include the components of the host system, such as a CPU, a file system, an operating system, application software, a storage device, a network protocol stack, and so forth.
As some examples, an attribute associated with a configuration item that represents a configuration of an operating system can specify the type of operating system (e.g., Unix, Linux, WINDOWS®, and so forth). An attribute associated with a configuration item representing a CPU can specify a speed or manufacturer of the CPU. An attribute of a configuration item that represents a file system can specify a total size of the file system.
In an enterprise with a relatively large number of IT components, it may be relatively difficult for personnel of an IT organization to manage or understand configurations of the IT components, and/or to understand causes of problems or other issues (e.g., errors, faults, etc.) associated with the IT components. Configuration items for IT components are typically maintained by a configuration management database (CMDB). In view of the complexities associated with environments with large numbers of configuration items, any attempt to understand the environment may have to involve the assistance of a CMDB administrator who is familiar with the content of the CMDB and who is familiar with development of complex queries, such as topological query language (TQL) queries, for accessing the content of the CMDB. The queries are submitted to the CMDB to obtain information to allow IT personnel to check configurations of IT components and to understand causes of problems or other issues associated with IT components; however, development of such complex TQL queries can be time consuming and error prone.
By using the configuration management system according to some implementations, management of an environment with a relatively large number of configuration items is made easier. By bundling configuration items that are related into composite CIs, a less cluttered visualization of the environment including the configuration items can be provided (by reducing the number of configuration items that are visualized). Instead of presenting a large number of configuration items that are linked to each other in a graphical representation, the configuration management system according to some implementations is able to present a graphical representation including composite CIs that are linked to each other. This allows for easier understanding of the role of each configuration item and the relations among the configuration items. Also, if desired, the configuration management system allows for easier creation of a view that contains a collection of composite CIs. Moreover, the definition of TQL queries for accessing the CMDB containing configuration items can be simplified in view of the use of composite CIs.
The configuration item management module 102 can be formed using machine-readable instructions executable on at least one processor 108 in the configuration management system 100 to perform tasks as discussed herein. In some implementations, the configuration management system 100 is a computer system (formed of a single computer node or multiple distributed computer nodes) that has corresponding hardware processor(s) on which machine-readable instructions are executable.
The at least one processor 108 is connected to storage media 110, which can be implemented with disk-based storage device(s) and/or semiconductor memory device(s). The storage media 110 contains information accessible by the configuration item management module 102. For example, the information stored in the storage media 110 includes configuration items 112 that can be maintained in a CMDB according to some implementations. The storage media 112 also stores composite CIs 114 formed from the configuration items 112.
In
The configuration management system 100 also includes a video controller 122 connected to processor(s) 108. The video controller 122 is responsive to data from the visualization module 106 for presenting a visualization 120 in a display device 124, where the visualization 120 can include a graphical representation of composite CIs or graphical user interface (GUI) screens containing information regarding composite CIs.
In accordance with some implementations, multiple related configuration items can be bundled into a corresponding composite CI, such as the composite CI 300 shown in
A server computer as represented by the composite CI 300 typically has multiple internal components, such as memory, a network port (e.g., TCP/IP port), a physical port, a file system, a central processing unit (CPU), and/or other components. Each of the components of the server computer would be represented as separate configuration items in the CMDB. However, according to some implementations, the components of the server computer can be bundled together into the root “CONTACT_NODE” configuration item that represents the overall server computer. The CONTACT_NODE configuration item has links to corresponding components of the server computer.
There are two types of links depicted in
The collection of configuration items as depicted in
By bundling configuration items in the relatively cluttered graphical representation 200 of
Other configuration items are also shown in
The host composite CI 402 contains a bundle 202 of configuration items in
In accordance with some implementations, the configuration management system 100 is able to use perspectives defined in the CMDB to add to a view, such as the view shown in
Some tasks of the bundling module 104 of the configuration management module 102 of
Note that it is possible to have a hierarchy of configuration items united to one composite CI—as a result, the analysis at 504 performs (at 512) the sub-tasks 506-510 recursively until the entire composite CI is derived. After uniting the configuration items to form composite CIs, the relations between composite CIs are united from individual relations between individual configuration items. If there are multiple relations between underlying configuration items of two composite CIs, the multiple relations are combined (united) to form one relation. In some implementations, there can only be one relation between two composite CIs in each direction between the two composite CIs.
For example, the user can click on one of the composite CIs (or an individual configuration item) in the graphical representation of
Alternatively, selection of a composite CI can also cause presentation of a dialog or visualization screen to depict configuration items in the selected composite CI. This allows the user to drill down into details of the composite CI, if desired.
In accordance with some implementations, to provide further organization, the configuration management system 100 is able to categorize composite CIs into layers (which can be user-defined layers) or alternatively into groups. Categorizing composite CIs into layers or groups improves the ability to read the topology of the composite CIs and to understand the relationships among them. In accordance with some examples, categorizing composite CIs into layers is shown in a graphical representation 700 in
The fact that the layers are stacked on top each other provides another way of reading the topology of composite CIs. In some implementations, the layers can be configured in a way that a higher layer relays services from a lower layer. Also, the layered arrangement of
In alternative implementations, in addition to or instead of categorizing composite CIs into layers, the configuration management system is also able to categorize composite CIs into groups. Some example groups are shown in a graphical representation 800 depicted in
Machine-readable instructions described above (including instructions of modules 102, 104, 106 of
Data and instructions are stored in respective storage devices, which are implemented as one or multiple computer-readable or machine-readable storage media. The storage media include different forms of memory including semiconductor memory devices such as dynamic or static random access memories (DRAMs or SRAMs), erasable and programmable read--only memories (EPROMs), electrically erasable and programmable read-only memories (EEPROMs) and flash memories; magnetic disks such as fixed, floppy and removable disks; other magnetic media including tape; optical media such as compact disks (CDs) or digital video disks (DVDs); or other types of storage devices. Note that the instructions discuss above can be provided on one computer-readable or machine-readable storage medium, or alternatively, can be provided on multiple computer-readable or machine-readable storage media distributed in a large system having possibly plural nodes. Such computer-readable or machine-readable storage medium or media is (are) considered to be part of an article (or article of manufacture). An article or article of manufacture can refer to any manufactured single component or multiple components.
In the foregoing description, numerous details are set forth to provide an understanding of the subject disclosed herein. However, implementations may be practiced without some or all of these details. Other implementations may include modifications and variations from the details discussed above. It is intended that the appended claims cover such modifications and variations.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/US2010/036317 | 5/27/2010 | WO | 00 | 11/6/2012 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2011/149464 | 12/1/2011 | WO | A |
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