What qualities define a technology stack?

[James Paris]

We are implementing APM in a heterogeneous environment, and are not sure how we should define technology stacks.  We have previously considered database, web server, j2ee server.  The default values seem focused on programming language (which is not easy for us to identify).  What are typical qualities used?

[CMDB Whisperer · Accepted solution]

I typically see Application Stack referring to OS, Web Server, Database Server, and Programming Language, which describes the various tiers of the application, though it doesn't necessarily paint a complete picture.  People use it primarily as a short-hand to help them understand and communicate the type of technology required to run it and the skill set necessary to build and maintain it.  There may be different technology tiers to consider, but ultimately these seem to be the main criteria from my perspective.