Cloud computing is traveling along the hype cycle quickly, cloud technologies are maturing, and cloud adoption is accelerating on a global scale. Most IT managers now agree that cloud computing is both a new generation of system architecture and also a new form of IT service provider\/user partnership.\u00a0 Hybrid cloud solutions also successfully link in-house systems with the new provider-based \u201cas a service\u201d offerings.<\/p>\n
One consequence has been an increased focus on systems management, especially the automation of change and configuration management processes. Hybrid clouds and multi-cloud systems are creating additional requirements for management integration.\u00a0 As a starting point, cloud customers need a good record of all the resources\/services being used, the service levels desired and being achieved, and what is being moved, added or changed (especially with self-service provisioning and automated scaling).\u00a0 Providers must also manage and optimize their infrastructures across multiple tenants.<\/p>\n
An accurate, well-maintained\u00a0Configuration Management Database (CMDB)<\/a>\u00a0can help to reduce the risks of the cloud transition and support day-to-day operations and maintenance processes.\u00a0\u00a0 A Google search of \u201cCMDB and cloud computing<\/a>\u201d illustrates how many different views of the role and importance of a CMDB there can be. These differences, however, are as much related to the acceptance of ITIL\/ITSM as a framework for cloud management as they are to the intrinsic value of a CMDB.<\/p>\n A CMDB is a database of a assets\/resources, which are called Configuration Items, or CI\u2019s in ITIL-speak. The CMDB can include many different types of object including stakeholders, contracts, documentation, devices and services.\u00a0 While the CMDB must contain all relevant details of the CI\u2019s themselves, it is becoming increasingly important to also track the relationships among the CI\u2019s.<\/p>\n The ITIL\/ITSM CMDB should not be confused with the\u00a0configuration management<\/em>concepts used in the\u00a0DevOps<\/a>\u00a0movement, which is more focused on software delivery, or\u00a0systems engineering<\/a>.\u00a0 Examples of configuration tools for building systems include\u00a0Puppet<\/a>\u00a0(open source software for configuring UNIX and Windows systems) and\u00a0chef<\/a>.\u00a0 Software deployment, configuration control and orchestration are also key to service delivery automation, with\u00a0Ansible<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Salt<\/a>\u00a0being two current examples.<\/p>\n A CMDB for cloud computing will be even more valuable when microservice and container architectures are deployed in complex, dynamic, ever-changing cloud configurations. Documenting the relationships among CI\u2019s is paramount when performing any type of compliance assessment, threat impact assessment, or troubleshooting efforts.<\/p>\n IT managers need a complete view of ALL their managed elements and how they interact \u2013 it doesn\u2019t matter who owns them, where they are, whether they are virtual or physical, or how permanent they may be.<\/p>\n To meet these requirements, the most obvious technology is a\u00a0graph database<\/a>. One example of a graph-based CMDB that is well-suited for cloud computing environments is available from\u00a0LightMesh Inc.<\/a>\u00a0of Toronto. From their website, we learn:<\/p>\n \u201cLightMesh gives you the tools to easily design public and private cloud integrations, giving your entire organization visibility into what cloud services you rely on and how they are implemented. Whether it\u2019s a single VM instance to get a new initiative to market or a full VPDC spanning multiple availability regions, LightMesh helps you quickly generate a fully documented design that can be instantly used by operations and support.<\/em><\/p>\n