<s>
A	O
configuration	B-Application
management	I-Application
database	I-Application
(	O
CMDB	B-Application
)	O
is	O
an	O
ITIL	O
term	O
for	O
a	O
database	O
used	O
by	O
an	O
organization	O
to	O
store	O
information	O
about	O
hardware	O
and	O
software	O
assets	O
(	O
commonly	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
configuration	O
items	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
CMDB	B-Application
provides	O
a	O
means	O
of	O
understanding	O
the	O
organization	O
's	O
critical	O
assets	O
and	O
their	O
relationships	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
information	O
systems	O
,	O
upstream	O
sources	O
or	O
dependencies	O
of	O
assets	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
downstream	O
targets	O
of	O
assets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
CMDB	B-Application
is	O
a	O
fundamental	O
component	O
of	O
ITIL	O
framework	O
's	O
Configuration	B-General_Concept
Management	I-General_Concept
process	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
CMDBs	B-Application
are	O
used	O
to	O
keep	O
track	O
of	O
the	O
state	O
of	O
assets	O
such	O
as	O
products	O
,	O
systems	O
,	O
software	O
,	O
facilities	O
,	O
people	O
as	O
they	O
exist	O
at	O
specific	O
points	O
in	O
time	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
relationship	O
between	O
all	O
assets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
CMDB	B-Application
helps	O
an	O
organization	O
understand	O
the	O
relationship	O
between	O
the	O
components	O
of	O
a	O
system	O
and	O
to	O
track	O
their	O
configurations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
CMDBs	B-Application
can	O
also	O
be	O
used	O
for	O
things	O
like	O
impact	O
analysis	O
,	O
root	O
cause	O
analysis	O
,	O
or	O
change	B-Application
management	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
CMDB	B-Application
implementations	O
often	O
involve	O
federation	O
–	O
the	O
inclusion	O
of	O
data	O
into	O
the	O
CMDB	B-Application
from	O
other	O
sources	O
–	O
such	O
as	O
asset	O
management	O
,	O
in	O
such	O
a	O
way	O
that	O
the	O
source	O
of	O
the	O
data	O
retains	O
control	O
of	O
the	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Federation	O
is	O
usually	O
distinguished	O
from	O
ETL	O
(	O
extract	O
,	O
transform	O
,	O
load	O
)	O
solutions	O
in	O
which	O
data	O
is	O
copied	O
into	O
the	O
CMDB	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
CMDBs	B-Application
can	O
be	O
used	O
for	O
many	O
things	O
,	O
including	O
but	O
not	O
limited	O
to	O
:	O
business	O
intelligence	O
,	O
software	O
and	O
hardware	O
builds	O
,	O
inventory	O
,	O
impact	O
analysis	O
for	O
change	B-Application
management	I-Application
,	O
and	O
incident	O
management	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
context	O
of	O
ITIL	O
,	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
CMDBs	B-Application
is	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
infrastructure	O
operations	O
and	O
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
CMDB	B-Application
represents	O
the	O
authorized	O
configuration	O
of	O
the	O
significant	O
components	O
of	O
the	O
IT	O
environment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
CMDB	B-Application
contains	O
and	O
records	O
data	O
that	O
are	O
also	O
called	O
configuration	O
items	O
(	O
CI	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Attributes	O
captured	O
by	O
a	O
CMDB	B-Application
vary	O
based	O
on	O
CI	O
category	O
,	O
and	O
can	O
number	O
up	O
to	O
the	O
hundreds	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
attributes	O
are	O
defined	O
by	O
metadata	O
,	O
CMDBs	B-Application
also	O
contain	O
metadata	O
,	O
and	O
thus	O
the	O
concept	O
overlaps	O
with	O
that	O
of	O
a	O
metadata	O
repository	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
also	O
used	O
to	O
more	O
effectively	O
run	O
IT	O
organizations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Configuration	B-General_Concept
management	I-General_Concept
addresses	O
how	O
the	O
data	O
is	O
to	O
be	O
kept	O
up	O
to	O
date	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
configuration	O
item	O
type	O
(	O
or	O
CI	O
type	O
)	O
is	O
the	O
data	O
type	O
of	O
the	O
element	O
or	O
configuration	O
item	O
an	O
enterprise	O
wishes	O
to	O
store	O
within	O
the	O
CMDB	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
a	O
minimum	O
,	O
all	O
software	O
,	O
hardware	O
,	O
network	O
,	O
and	O
storage	O
CI	O
types	O
are	O
stored	O
and	O
tracked	O
in	O
a	O
CMDB	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
enterprises	O
mature	O
,	O
they	O
start	O
to	O
track	O
business	O
CI	O
types	O
in	O
their	O
CMDB	B-Application
,	O
such	O
as	O
people	O
,	O
markets	O
,	O
products	O
,	O
and	O
3rd	O
party	O
entities	O
such	O
as	O
vendors	O
and	O
partners	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
allows	O
the	O
relationships	O
between	O
CIs	O
to	O
become	O
more	O
meaningful	O
and	O
the	O
CMDB	B-Application
to	O
become	O
a	O
stronger	O
source	O
for	O
knowledge	O
management	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
key	O
success	O
factor	O
in	O
implementing	O
a	O
CMDB	B-Application
is	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
automatically	O
discover	O
information	O
about	O
the	O
CIs	O
(	O
auto-discovery	O
)	O
and	O
track	O
changes	O
as	O
they	O
happen	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
CMDB	B-Application
schematic	O
structures	O
,	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
database	B-Application
schemas	I-Application
,	O
take	O
on	O
multiple	O
forms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Two	O
of	O
the	O
most	O
common	O
forms	O
are	O
those	O
of	O
a	O
relational	B-Architecture
data	I-Architecture
model	I-Architecture
and	O
a	O
semantic	O
data	O
model	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Relational	B-Architecture
data	I-Architecture
models	I-Architecture
are	O
based	O
on	O
first-order	O
predicate	O
logic	O
and	O
all	O
data	O
is	O
represented	O
in	O
terms	O
of	O
tuples	O
that	O
are	O
grouped	O
into	O
relations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
relational	B-Architecture
model	I-Architecture
,	O
related	O
records	O
are	O
linked	O
together	O
with	O
a	O
"	O
key	O
"	O
,	O
where	O
the	O
key	O
is	O
unique	O
to	O
an	O
entry	O
's	O
data	O
type	O
definition	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Such	O
relational	B-Architecture
models	I-Architecture
provide	O
declarative	O
methods	O
for	O
specifying	O
data	O
and	O
queries	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
three	O
specific	O
core	O
challenges	O
to	O
creating	O
and	O
maintaining	O
a	O
Configuration	B-Application
Management	I-Application
Database	I-Application
:	O
</s>
<s>
Usability	O
:	O
Most	O
CMDBs	B-Application
are	O
just	O
databases	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
means	O
that	O
most	O
companies	O
need	O
to	O
invest	O
in	O
an	O
application	O
layer	O
that	O
adds	O
such	O
constructs	O
to	O
their	O
CMDB	B-Application
,	O
which	O
adds	O
a	O
layer	O
of	O
complexity	O
and	O
cost	O
that	O
most	O
companies	O
do	O
not	O
plan	O
for	O
or	O
expect	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
implementing	O
features	O
that	O
ensure	O
the	O
database	O
is	O
up	O
to	O
date	O
or	O
allow	O
it	O
to	O
interact	O
with	O
systems	O
to	O
run	O
commands	O
,	O
apply	O
updates	O
,	O
or	O
deploy	O
new	O
applications	O
extends	O
the	O
functionality	O
and	O
usefulness	O
of	O
the	O
CMDB	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
of	O
the	O
above	O
reasons	O
,	O
companies	O
usually	O
choose	O
to	O
purchase	O
their	O
CMDBs	B-Application
,	O
rather	O
than	O
designing	O
,	O
building	O
,	O
delivering	O
,	O
and	O
supporting	O
them	O
themselves	O
.	O
</s>
