Normalization engine to manage configuration management database integrity
First Claim
1. A computer program product, the computer program product being tangibly embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and comprising instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, are configured to:
- communicate with one or more resources via a network;
receive, at a configuration management database (CMDB), incoming data from the one or more resources, wherein the incoming data represents a Configuration Item (CI) having an attribute value; and
normalize at least two attribute values of the CI by a process that changes different variations of a same attribute value to a preferred value, wherein the process includes;
searching an alias catalog for the attribute value of the CI, wherein the alias catalog contains information for multiple products and preferred representations of the products in the CMDB including a listing of attributes with each attribute having one or more attribute values that each map to a preferred value with the preferred value being a same value for the one or more attribute values,responsive to finding the attribute value of the CI in the alias catalog, changing the attribute value of the CI to the preferred value in the CMDB and changing an attribute value for a different attribute of the CI to a preferred value for the different attribute of the CI in the CMDB, andresponsive to not finding the attribute value of the CI in the alias catalog, not changing the attribute value of the CI and determining whether or not to create an entry for the CI.
11 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Data is often populated into Configuration Management Databases (CMDBs) from different sources. Because the data can come from a variety of sources, it may have inconsistencies—and may even be incomplete. A Normalization Engine (NE) may be able to automatically clean up the incoming data based on certain rules and knowledge. In one embodiment, the NE takes each Configuration Item (CI) or group of CIs that are to be normalized and applies a rule or a set of rules to see if the data may be cleaned up, and, if so, updates the CI or group of CIs accordingly. In particular, one embodiment may allow for the CI'"'"'s data to be normalized by doing a look up against a Product Catalog and/or an Alias Catalog. In another embodiment, the NE architecture could be fully extensible, allowing for the creation of custom, rules-based plug-ins by users and/or third parties.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. A computer program product, the computer program product being tangibly embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and comprising instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, are configured to:
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communicate with one or more resources via a network; receive, at a configuration management database (CMDB), incoming data from the one or more resources, wherein the incoming data represents a Configuration Item (CI) having an attribute value; and normalize at least two attribute values of the CI by a process that changes different variations of a same attribute value to a preferred value, wherein the process includes; searching an alias catalog for the attribute value of the CI, wherein the alias catalog contains information for multiple products and preferred representations of the products in the CMDB including a listing of attributes with each attribute having one or more attribute values that each map to a preferred value with the preferred value being a same value for the one or more attribute values, responsive to finding the attribute value of the CI in the alias catalog, changing the attribute value of the CI to the preferred value in the CMDB and changing an attribute value for a different attribute of the CI to a preferred value for the different attribute of the CI in the CMDB, and responsive to not finding the attribute value of the CI in the alias catalog, not changing the attribute value of the CI and determining whether or not to create an entry for the CI. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 25)
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11. A computer system including instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium and executable by at least one processor, the system comprising:
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one or more resources configured to store data; and a normalization engine configured to cause the at least one processor to; communicate with the one or more resources via a network; receive, at a configuration management database (CMDB), incoming data from the one or more resources, wherein the incoming data represents a Configuration Item (CI) having an attribute value; and normalize at least two attribute values of the CI by a process that changes different variations of a same attribute value to a preferred value, wherein the process includes; searching an alias catalog for the attribute value of the CI, wherein the alias catalog contains information for multiple products and preferred representations of the products in the CMDB including a listing of attributes with each attribute having one or more attribute values that each map to a preferred value with the preferred value being a same value for the one or more attribute values, responsive to finding the attribute value of the CI in the alias catalog, changing the attribute value of the CI to the preferred value in the CMDB and changing an attribute value for a different attribute of the CI to a preferred value for the different attribute of the CI in the CMDB, and responsive to not finding the attribute value of the CI in the alias catalog, not changing the attribute value of the CI and determining whether or not to create an entry for the CI. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 26, 27)
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19. A computer server comprising at least one element of hardware, the computer server programmed with instructions to perform a method, the method comprising:
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communicating with one or more resources via a network; receiving, at a configuration management database (CMDB), incoming data from the one or more resources, wherein the incoming data represents a Configuration Item (CI) having an attribute value; and normalizing at least two attribute values of the CI by a process that changes different variations of a same attribute value to a preferred value, wherein the process includes; searching an alias catalog for the attribute value of the CI, wherein the alias catalog contains information for multiple products and preferred representations of the products in the CMDB including a listing of attributes with each attribute having one or more attribute values that each map to a preferred value with the preferred value being a same value for the one or more attribute values, responsive to finding the attribute value of the CI in the alias catalog, changing the attribute value of the CI to the preferred value in the CMDB and changing an attribute value for a different attribute of the CI to a preferred value for the different attribute of the CI in the CMDB, and responsive to not finding the attribute value of the CI in the alias catalog, not changing the attribute value of the CI and determining whether or not to create an entry for the CI. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 28, 29)
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Specification