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A configuration management database (CMDB) is a database used by IT managers to plan and organize an organization’s IT environment, including hardware, software, methods of operation, incidents, changes, and people. The content of a CMDB may vary by department or service. The concept of a CMDB came from the UK government agency, which recommended using databases for managing IT environments. A controversy emerged when numerous companies marketed real database applications as a single source to simplify IT department management. The idea was picked up by the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF), proposing any number of databases called management data stores (MDRs) that communicate and share elements of configuration with each other. At the top of the hierarchy is the master CMDB, which need not contain all details about a particular IT environment but allows other trusted sources to hold that information.
A configuration management database (CMDB) is one or more databases used as a means for information technology (IT) managers to plan and organize every aspect of an organization’s IT environment. Virtually everything that comprises an organization’s IT operation can go into a CMDB, where each entry in the database becomes what is called a configuration item (CI). This includes not only inventory and control of computer hardware and software, but also methods of operation, specific incidents and changes to the IT environment, even people.
The content of a particular CMDB may vary by department or service. The CIs for an organization are collected in a CMDB, which becomes a central repository of information for tracking them and their relationships to each other. With the help of a good CMDB implementation, an organization can make more informed decisions about the planning, management and expenses required to maintain the IT infrastructure.
The idea behind the configuration management database came from the work of the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency, which eventually became the Office of Government Commerce, a government agency in the United Kingdom (UK). The group maintains and publishes a series of books describing the so-called Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL®). Part of ITIL® was the recommended use of databases for managing the elements of an IT environment and how they are configured.
As ITIL® has continued to gain popularity beyond UK government agencies and contracts, however, the concept of a configuration management database has become somewhat confusing and a small controversy has emerged. Numerous companies rushed to create real database applications which were marketed as a single source to simplify the management of IT departments. When version three of ITIL® emerged, the idea behind the CMDB fell under a section describing a more general configuration management system (CMS) to better describe the idea behind using a CMDB. According to the new clarification, a CMS can contain one or more possible CMDBs.
Taking the notion of a configuration management database further, the idea was picked up by the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF®), a coalition of technology companies. Approaching the CMDB as more than a federation of databases, using the CMS notion described in the new ITIL®, the concept proposes any number of databases, called management data stores (MDRs), and a medium through which they communicate and share elements of configuration with each other. The DMTF® Standard helps companies that wish to continue developing databases for use as MDRs to do so in a way that works with MDRs created by others.
Essentially, at the top of a hierarchy is the master configuration management database, which can be thought of as a sort of meta-database. It need not contain all the details about a particular IT environment, instead allowing other trusted sources to hold that information. The various CMDBs of an organization then share key data up to the primary CMDB which is then used for overall decision making. Dividing the CMDBs into divisions in this way allows for better clarification and easier control of information about the entire IT environment.
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