The Federated CMDB Part 1

A definition of a federated CMDB is that a master database (aka the CMDB) references an external database for a subset of information. Simply put, when I am looking at a record representing a configuration item (CI) some of the information I find in the record is stored in the CMDB while another percentage comes from and is managed by some other source. The key is to make this appear completely transparent to the person doing the looking. While federation is important the challenge we face is that there are three different uses or applications of the term. Two of these uses I personally believe represent a road to ultimate failure. Three applications of federation:

1. CMDB Federation is the exception not the rule The CMDB is a tool used by all IT Management functions and processes and the effort is made to consolidate and centralize most, if not all, the data sources into the CMDB. We will link to other data sources only where it makes sense


2. CMDB Federation is the rule not the exception. The CMDB is a tool used only for service management and there is no reason for data source consolidation. We will leave everything where it is, cherry pick and replicate the attributes and data we want into a centralized CMDB record and make sure they are up to date through reconciliation


3. CMDB Federation: The Dynamic View of existing data. The “CMDB data” already exists in the myriad of data sources there is no need to create a central record- we just need to pull it all together in a virtual data warehouse model to create a dynamic view of the existing data sources. In this approach a central record is never created.


 

Over the next few posts I will be providing a further definition of each of these three interpretations. Troy

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