How to clean up an unmanaged CMDB

[cynlink1]

I've been asked to clean up CIs in an existing CMDB where Discovery has been running unmanaged for three years. There are ~200,000 CIs. When I review the Configuration Console, everything type/option is turned on. I am seeking input/guidance on how to best approach cleaning up the existing CIs and managing the CMDB moving forward. Is there a way to reset and start over? If yes, is this advisable? If not, should I delete some CIs for certain classes? Should I take immediate action to change the Configuration Console settings? Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom.

[Rahul Priyadars]

Approach and steps depends on the What use cases you have for CMDB Data consumption ? Its more kind of Functional analysis first and then come to the Service Now Technical in tool.

--> Asset Management

--> Change Management Impact Analysis

--> Patching of Server etc etc

Use cases generally drive your CMDB data and accordingly you need to prioritize the data sanctity.

 Start cleanup and tuning with --what class data you are not consuming as a part of use cases and day to day operations?

Regards

RP

[cynlink1]

Current state:

-We do associate incident and change requests to CIs (largely business services, computers, servers, and printers)

-We do leverage CI data for patching of servers

-We do NOT use the Asset Management functionality 

Future state:

We want to clean up the CMDB in preparation for implementing Service Mapping in the future

[doug_schulze]

I would probably look to the primary classes and see what hasn't been discovered in over 90 days. Everything discovery does pretty much extends from cmdb_ci_hardware so filter on that  using the most recent discovery date and even discovery source (servicenow) should do the trick. You can choose to remove or better yet archive those records off. Then you want to get into your discovery tool and make sure it's working with all current best practices and is getting the current IP segments that your network may have not had 3 years ago. 

Don't forget about the same with the Applications table (cmdb_ci_appl)..

[cynlink1]

Doug - Thanks for responding. I have updated the IP segments, so I feel good about those. I like the guidance you provide, but I have many questions about the various classes that I see when viewing cmdb_ci.LIST. Some CIs have a source of 'Unknown,' although all CIs are created by Discovery (no other sources). I also thought that there were some CIs where the most recent discovery date is not always updated.

At the end of the day, it boils down to me needing to dedicate more time to thoroughly reading and digesting the documentation (and learn more about archiving.)