CMDB Overview Lecture

Introduction

• Presenter: Rohit
• Topics: Overview of CMDB, its importance, usage in service contexts

What is CMDB?

• CMDB: Configuration Management Database
• Significance: Critical for managing assets in an organization

Configuration Items (CI)

• Definition: Tangible or intangible data/items
• Examples:
  • Hardware: Laptops, Routers, Mice
  • Software: Visual Studio, SQL Server

Importance of CI

• Incident Management: CIs are used in identifying and resolving incidents
• Tracking: Helps track lifecycle of assets (purchase, assignment, upgrades)

CMDB in ServiceNow

• Location: Found under the 'Configuration' module
• Base Table: cmdb_ci
  • Contains child tables for each class of items

CI Classification and Reclassification

• Classification: Organizing CIs into specific classes (e.g., Windows Server)
• Reclassification: Changing a CI's classification if it's incorrect
• Upgrading & Downgrading:
  • Upgrading: Moving data to a more specific child table
  • Downgrading: Moving data to a more general parent table
• CI Switching: Moving data sideways across parallel tables

Discovery and Population of Data

• Methods:
  • Horizontal Discovery
  • Vertical Discovery
  • Manual Data Entry

Structure and Relationships in CMDB

• Hierarchy: Base table with multiple child classes
• Relationships: CIs are interconnected and depend on each other
• Dependency View: Visual representation of CI dependencies

Key Terms and Fields

• Operational Status: Indicates the state of the CI (Operational, New, etc.)
• Managed By: User responsible for managing the CI
• Owned By: User who owns the CI

Upcoming Topics

• CMDB Dashboard
• CMDB Query Builder

Conclusion

• Importance of understanding CMDB and its functionalities for effective asset management in an organization.