CMDB federation method and management system
View Patent ↗This disclosure relates generally to the field of Configuration Management Databases (CMDBs). One embodiment of a user interface embodying the present invention is an extension of the process for creating CMDB classes and is therefore readily available for use by someone with knowledge of CMDB administration. The CMDB administrator is thus relieved from having to understand in detail the technologies and interfaces used by the Management Data Repository (MDR) sources. The result of setting up a relation from a CMDB data structure to an MDR data structure by a CMDB administrator may be represented by one or more new CMDB class(es) for the MDR data. The related MDR may then be accessed by an existing CMDB application using already existing CMDB interfaces. The instances of the new relationships and classes thus appear as if they were native instances stored in the CMDB.
1. A computer processor programmed to perform a data federation method for a Configuration Management Database (CMDB), the method comprising:
receiving information from a CMDB client, the information comprising:
a selection of a federated data class,
interface connection information for one or more Management Data Repositories (MDRs) that contain information associated with the federated data class, wherein the interface connection information comprises information that is used by the CMDB to connect to the one or more MDRs, and
a selection of one or more join conditions, wherein the one or more selected join conditions are used to relate the federated data class to one or more classes residing in the CMDB;
defining a new federated data class using the one or more join conditions;
sending a query to the one or more MDRs based on the new federated data class;
receiving a query result set; and
providing at least a portion of the query result set to the CMDB client.
2. The processor of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further programmed to:
store attributes related to the new federated data class in a memory medium.
3. The processor of claim 2 , wherein the stored attributes comprise at least one of the following: a federated data class name and one or more attributes corresponding to one or more attributes from an MDR.
4. The processor of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further programmed to:
receive one or more attributes from the one or more MDRs,
wherein the one or more selected join conditions involve one or more of the received attributes.
5. The processor of claim 1 , wherein the program to perform the act of querying one or more MDRs uses Query By Path (QBP).
6. The processor of claim 1 , wherein the program to perform the act of querying one or more MDRs comprises using a plug-in to interface with the one or more MDRs.
7. The processor of claim 1 , wherein the program to perform the act of querying is specified by an administrator, an end user, or another computer system.
8. The processor of claim 1 , wherein one or more of the method steps the processor is programmed to perform occur via an administrator or an end user using a user interface.
9. A non-transitory computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein, wherein the computer readable program code is adapted to be executed to:
receive information from a configuration management database (CMDB) client, the information comprising:
a selection of a federated data class,
interface connection information for one or more Management Data Repositories (MDRs) that contain information associated with the federated data class, wherein the interface connection information comprises information that is used by a CMDB to connect to the one or more MDRs, and
a selection of one or more join conditions, wherein the one or more selected join conditions are used to relate the federated data class to one or more classes residing in the CMDB;
define a new federated data class using the one or more join conditions;
send a query to the one or more MDRs based on the new federated data class;
receive a query result set; and
provide at least a portion of the query result set to the CMDB client.
10. The non-transitory computer usable medium of claim 9 , wherein the computer readable program code is further adapted to be executed to:
store attributes related to the new federated data class in a memory medium.
11. The non-transitory computer usable medium of claim 10 , wherein the stored attributes comprise at least one of the following:
a federated data class name and one or more attributes corresponding to one or more attributes from an MDR.
12. The non-transitory computer usable medium of claim 9 , wherein the computer readable program code is further adapted to be executed to:
receive one or more attributes from the one or more MDRs, wherein the one or more selected join conditions involve one or more of the received attributes.
13. The non-transitory computer usable medium of claim 9 , wherein the program code to perform the act of querying one or more MDRs comprises a Query By Path (QBP).
14. The non-transitory computer usable medium of claim 9 , wherein the program code to perform the act of querying one or more MDRs comprises using a plug-in to interface with the one or more MDRs.
15. A computer network executing a data federation method for a configuration management database (CMDB), the computer network comprising:
one or more non-volatile storage devices for maintaining enterprise configuration management information;
one or more computer systems communicatively coupled to the network, at least one of the one or more computer systems programmed to perform at least a portion of the method the computer processor of claim 1 is programmed to perform,
wherein the entire method the computer processor of claim 1 is programmed to perform is performed collectively by the one or more computer systems communicatively coupled to the network.
16. The computer network of claim 15 , further comprising:
a plurality of management data repositories (MDRs); and
a plurality of plug-in interfaces, wherein each of the plurality of MDRs is associated with one or more plug-in interfaces, and wherein the plurality of plug-in interfaces are configured to interface with the CMDB.
17. The computer network of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of MDRs exist on a single computer.
18. The computer network of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of MDRs do not all exist on a single computer.
19. The computer network of claim 15 , further comprising a client application, wherein the client application is configured to query the CMDB.
20. The computer network of claim 19 , wherein the client application comprises a user interface.