CA upgrades configuration database

CA database upgrade targets configuration managment.

CA recently upgraded its configuration management database to let customers collect configuration data from multiple sources more easily.

CMDBs store data about networks, systems and applications to help network managers pinpoint performance errors and ensure configurations' compliance. The latest version of CA CMDB collects data from many sources but doesn't necessarily store it all in a single database. Like similar products recently announced by competitors, CA's software now serves as a common repository for network, system and application-asset information.

The CA CMDB involves a central, federated database with hooks - CA calls them Universal Federation Adapters - into other data sources. It does not require IT managers to abandon existing databases and move configuration data to another server; it lets data reside in multiple places throughout the enterprise, with the central database knowing where that data is.

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CA recently upgraded its configuration management database to let customers collect configuration data from multiple sources more easily.

CMDBs store data about networks, systems and applications to help network managers pinpoint performance errors and ensure configurations' compliance. The latest version of CA CMDB collects data from many sources but doesn't necessarily store it all in a single database. Like similar products recently announced by competitors, CA's software now serves as a common repository for network, system and application-asset information.

The CA CMDB involves a central, federated database with hooks - CA calls them Universal Federation Adapters - into other data sources. It does not require IT managers to abandon existing databases and move configuration data to another server; it lets data reside in multiple places throughout the enterprise, with the central database knowing where that data is.

Industry watchers predict adopting a CMDB could take years, and IT shops should attempt to tackle it in digestible chunks.

"Most large enterprise companies work with several different management vendors, so implementing next-generation management technologies means making some hard decisions about which of their existing vendors will supply what pieces," says Jasmine Noel, a principal analyst with Ptak, Noel & Associates. Federation lets IT managers use what they already have in place with new technology, she adds.

With this release, the CA CMDB can be purchased unbundled from other CA products, such as the Unicenter portfolio of management tools. Industry watchers say unbundling could help customers more easily adopt a CMDB. In addition to storing configuration data, CA CMDB gives customers details about how configuration items - such as a server, application or database - relate or depend upon one another, CA says.

"Everyone agrees IT needs [a CMDB], yet the market is unsure what is the best way to buy and sell it - as a stand-alone package, as part of a foundational or integration platform, or as part of a product like Unicenter Service Desk," Noel says.

CA also announced it has enhanced its service management software offerings with industry-standard best practices - dubbed accelerators - to help customers implement enterprisewide IT service management more quickly. The company says the CA Service Management Accelerator packages CA software with support and training in Information Technology Infrastructure Library best practices.

CA CMDB is slated to be available in August; the company will announce pricing at that time. CA Service Management Accelerator is available now.

Read more about infrastructure management in Network World's Infrastructure Management section.