SERVICENOW CMDB STUDY GUIDE
Configuration Item (CI) - Answers :Physical and logical components of an infrastructure
that needs to be managed to deliver a product or service and are currently, or soon will
be, under configuration management. For example, a network device, a server, an
application, a delivery truck, or service.
Attributes - Answers :Information that further describes a CI such as a name, serial
number, manufacturer, operating system.
Relationship Type - Answers :Include the relationships between configuration items. For
example, a web application might read data from a specific database, which in turn
might depend on a piece of underlying hardware.
Class - Answers :Describes a table that contains and represents a specific type or
group of CIs that share common attributes such as a Windows Server, Linux Server,
Printer, Virtual Machine, Vehicle, Animal etc.
Configuration Management System (CMS) - Answers :A set of tools and databases that
are used to manage an organizations configuration data.
Configuration Management Database (CMDB) - Answers :A database used to store
configuration records throughout their Lifecycle. The Configuration Management
System maintains one or more CMDBs, and each CMDB stores attributes of CIs, and
Relationships with other CIs.
Base Table - Answers :The core Configuration Item [cmdb_ci] table, which stores the
basic attributes of all the CIs. All configuration item classes extend from this table
including all hardware and applications.
CI Reclassification - Answers :Is a CI whose class has been upgraded, downgraded, or
switched. An example of an upgraded CI is a Server record that was upgraded from the
Server [cmdb_ci_server] class to the Windows Server [cmdb_ci_win_server] class.
CI Class Upgrade - Answers :The CI class is updated to a class that is less generic in
the class hierarchy, and the newly assigned class has additional attributes. For
example, an upgrade occurs if a CI is moved from the Server [cmdb_ci_server] class to
the Windows Server [cmdb_ci_win_server] class.
CI Class Downgrade - Answers :The CI class is updated to a class that is more generic
in the class hierarchy, and the newly assigned class has less attributes. For example, a
downgrade occurs if a CI is moved from the Windows Server [cmdb_ci_win_server]
class to the Server [cmdb_ci_server] class.
CI Class Switch - Answers :The CI class is in a different branch in the class hierarchy
and has a different set of attributes than the current class. For example, reclassifying a
, CI from the Linux Server [cmdb_ci_linux_server] class to the Windows Server
[cmdb_ci_win_server] class.
Parent and Child Class - Answers :A table that extends another table is called a child
class, and the table it extends is the parent class. A table can be both a parent and child
class both extending and providing extensions for other tables. For example, the Server
table extends the Computer table and the Windows Server table extends the Server
table, thus making the Server table both a Parent and Child class.
Asset vs. CI - Answers :On the Now platform, when creating a hardware asset, a
corresponding CI will be automatically created or when a CI is discovered for the first
time and inserted into the CMDB, a corresponding asset record will be automatically
created. The asset and the CI is connected through out the CI/Asset lifecycle.
Asset:
Often starts during the procurement process, but may be created when a discovery tool
finds the CI for the first time
Is part of the financial lifecycle
Configuration
Item (CI):
Often starts when a discovery tool find the CI for the first time, but may be created
during the procurement process
Is part of the technical operations
Asset DB vs. CMDB - Answers :Asset DB is inventory + financial data
CMDB is inventory + relationships
CMDB vs. Authoritative Sources - Answers :The CMDB is the authoritative source of
some information:
Support group
Contact
Owner
The CMDB is not the authoritative source of all information:
Contents of all server and application configuration files
Server log files
Common Services Data Model (CSDM) - Answers :Represents a standard and shared
set of service related definitions across our products and platform that will enable and
support true service level reporting while providing prescriptive guidance on service
modeling within the CMDB. These service-related definitions span the ServiceNow®
product portfolio and the Now Platform®.
Application Service - Answers :A set of interconnected applications and hosts which are
configured to offer a service to the organization. Application services can be internal,
like an organization email system or customer-facing, like an organization website.
Configuration Item (CI) - Answers :Physical and logical components of an infrastructure
that needs to be managed to deliver a product or service and are currently, or soon will
be, under configuration management. For example, a network device, a server, an
application, a delivery truck, or service.
Attributes - Answers :Information that further describes a CI such as a name, serial
number, manufacturer, operating system.
Relationship Type - Answers :Include the relationships between configuration items. For
example, a web application might read data from a specific database, which in turn
might depend on a piece of underlying hardware.
Class - Answers :Describes a table that contains and represents a specific type or
group of CIs that share common attributes such as a Windows Server, Linux Server,
Printer, Virtual Machine, Vehicle, Animal etc.
Configuration Management System (CMS) - Answers :A set of tools and databases that
are used to manage an organizations configuration data.
Configuration Management Database (CMDB) - Answers :A database used to store
configuration records throughout their Lifecycle. The Configuration Management
System maintains one or more CMDBs, and each CMDB stores attributes of CIs, and
Relationships with other CIs.
Base Table - Answers :The core Configuration Item [cmdb_ci] table, which stores the
basic attributes of all the CIs. All configuration item classes extend from this table
including all hardware and applications.
CI Reclassification - Answers :Is a CI whose class has been upgraded, downgraded, or
switched. An example of an upgraded CI is a Server record that was upgraded from the
Server [cmdb_ci_server] class to the Windows Server [cmdb_ci_win_server] class.
CI Class Upgrade - Answers :The CI class is updated to a class that is less generic in
the class hierarchy, and the newly assigned class has additional attributes. For
example, an upgrade occurs if a CI is moved from the Server [cmdb_ci_server] class to
the Windows Server [cmdb_ci_win_server] class.
CI Class Downgrade - Answers :The CI class is updated to a class that is more generic
in the class hierarchy, and the newly assigned class has less attributes. For example, a
downgrade occurs if a CI is moved from the Windows Server [cmdb_ci_win_server]
class to the Server [cmdb_ci_server] class.
CI Class Switch - Answers :The CI class is in a different branch in the class hierarchy
and has a different set of attributes than the current class. For example, reclassifying a
, CI from the Linux Server [cmdb_ci_linux_server] class to the Windows Server
[cmdb_ci_win_server] class.
Parent and Child Class - Answers :A table that extends another table is called a child
class, and the table it extends is the parent class. A table can be both a parent and child
class both extending and providing extensions for other tables. For example, the Server
table extends the Computer table and the Windows Server table extends the Server
table, thus making the Server table both a Parent and Child class.
Asset vs. CI - Answers :On the Now platform, when creating a hardware asset, a
corresponding CI will be automatically created or when a CI is discovered for the first
time and inserted into the CMDB, a corresponding asset record will be automatically
created. The asset and the CI is connected through out the CI/Asset lifecycle.
Asset:
Often starts during the procurement process, but may be created when a discovery tool
finds the CI for the first time
Is part of the financial lifecycle
Configuration
Item (CI):
Often starts when a discovery tool find the CI for the first time, but may be created
during the procurement process
Is part of the technical operations
Asset DB vs. CMDB - Answers :Asset DB is inventory + financial data
CMDB is inventory + relationships
CMDB vs. Authoritative Sources - Answers :The CMDB is the authoritative source of
some information:
Support group
Contact
Owner
The CMDB is not the authoritative source of all information:
Contents of all server and application configuration files
Server log files
Common Services Data Model (CSDM) - Answers :Represents a standard and shared
set of service related definitions across our products and platform that will enable and
support true service level reporting while providing prescriptive guidance on service
modeling within the CMDB. These service-related definitions span the ServiceNow®
product portfolio and the Now Platform®.
Application Service - Answers :A set of interconnected applications and hosts which are
configured to offer a service to the organization. Application services can be internal,
like an organization email system or customer-facing, like an organization website.
