How do I learn the purpose and use of the CMDB_CI tables?

[HugoFirst]

We have a team of about 20 people who are on a team to develop our CMDB.

I have presented a list of the tables and the fields for each table, but we need to know more.

For many tables, we need to know the purpose and use of the tables.   Sure, we can figure out what "cmdb_ci_linux_server" is all about.

But what is "cmdb_ci_zone" used for?   And "cmdb_ci_vm_parrallels"?   I could go on.

Is there a list of tables with some kind of description or context of use?

I've searched and found a fair amount of CMDB documentation, but every promising page just shows the tables by name.

I appreciate any help you can give me.

[sergiu_panaite]

Hi Steve,

Have you seen our wiki CMDB Data Model?

CMDB Data Model - ServiceNow Wiki

You can also view the schema map:

CMDB Classifications - ServiceNow Wiki

And the following KB might be useful:

ServiceNow KB: CMDB Resources Page (KB0546686)

Regards,

Sergiu

[Mike Allen]

The tables have a label that give a clue:

Like, cmdb_ci_zone is a Data Center Zone, which makes sense.   From there, I think Google is your best option.   I don't know of a place that tells you each class off the cmdb_ci table and what it is used for.

[HugoFirst]

Thank you both, Sergiu and Mike, for your help.

I have seen the 2 wiki pages mentioned by Sergiu and the labels mentioned by Mike are helpful too.

But there is still much ambiguity which is not addressed by these documents.

The docs give you the name, label and "inheritace" of each table.   And that is very helpful in 80% of the cases.

But there are still a 20% which are not sufficiently explained.   I'm thinking that they probably have a very   narrow scope and are of interest to a small number of people.   But that is just an assumption and not fact.

Here's a list of some of the problem tables:

cmdb_ci_ats_power_eq

cmdb_ci_business_process

cmdb_ci_circuit

cmdb_ci_cluster

cmdb_ci_cluster_node

cmdb_ci_cluster_node_resource

cmdb_ci_cluster_resource

cmdb_ci_zone ( OK this is a Data Center Zone,   but just what is a Data Center Zone?   And why do we...

cmdb_ci_infra_service   ( it inherits from Application.   But how is it different from a Service? )

cmdb_ci_outage   ( is this really a CI? )

cmdb_ci_pdu_outlet

cmdb_ci_vm_parallels

cmdb_ci_patches

cmdb_ci_pdu

cmdb_ci_appl_pending ( is this just an application in a pending state? )

cmdb_ci_snc_component ( is this the servicenow CI's that we use? )

cmdb_ci_tower_tower_eq

cmdb_ci_beacon_tower_eq

cmdb_ci_tower_eq

cmdb_ci_twr_light_cnt_tower_eq

cmdb_ci_tower_light_tower_eq

cmdb_ci_vm_zones

If you can shed some light on any of these, I'd be very appreciative.   I don't want to just assume that they are of no interest to us.

[Mike Allen · Accepted solution]

cmdb_ci_ats_power_eq: Transfer switch - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

cmdb_ci_business_process: Map incidents and problems to the process they came from

cmdb_ci_circuit: IP Circuit

cmdb_ci_cluster: Cluster of servers or databases

cmdb_ci_cluster_node: Each server in the cluster

cmdb_ci_cluster_node_resource: Each resource currently on the cluster node

cmdb_ci_cluster_resource: Global cluster resources

cmdb_ci_zone ( OK this is a Data Center Zone,   but just what is a Data Center Zone?   And why do we care? 😞 Data centers are divided into zones, which allow you more granular visibility as to where it is; ie, if you have an issue and someone gives you a data center, it is akin to giving you a city in a map.   A zone gives you a zip code, essentially, where a rack would be a street name and a row would be an address.. it is just more specific information for locating something in a data center

cmdb_ci_infra_service   ( it inherits from Application.   But how is it different from a Service? )

cmdb_ci_outage   ( is this really a CI? 😞 Tracking outages of CIs and allowing you to tie them back to SLAs

cmdb_ci_pdu_outlet: Outlets on the power strip so you aren't having to trace cables

cmdb_ci_vm_parallels: Parallel Virtual Machine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

cmdb_ci_patches: Server patches

cmdb_ci_pdu: Power distribution Unit.. Power strip in a rack

cmdb_ci_appl_pending ( is this just an application in a pending state? )

cmdb_ci_snc_component ( is this the servicenow CI's that we use? 😞 These are the ServiceNow components, servers, etc

cmdb_ci_tower_tower_eq: Power equipment

cmdb_ci_beacon_tower_eq: Power equipment

cmdb_ci_tower_eq: Power equipment

cmdb_ci_twr_light_cnt_tower_eq: Power equipment

cmdb_ci_tower_light_tower_eq: Power equipment

cmdb_ci_vm_zones: VLAN?   I don't know