Configuration management database

A Configuration Management Database (CMDB) is an ITIL database used by an organization to store information about hardware and software assets (commonly referred to as Configuration Items ). This database acts as a data warehouse for the organization and also stores information regarding the relationships among its assets. The CMDB provides a means of understanding the organization's critical assets and their relationships, such as information systems, upstream sources or dependencies of assets, and the downstream targets of assets. A Configuration Management Database (CMDB) is an ITIL database used by an organization to store information about hardware and software assets (commonly referred to as Configuration Items ). This database acts as a data warehouse for the organization and also stores information regarding the relationships among its assets. The CMDB provides a means of understanding the organization's critical assets and their relationships, such as information systems, upstream sources or dependencies of assets, and the downstream targets of assets. The CMDB is a fundamental component of the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) framework's Configuration Management process. CMDBs are used to keep track of the state of assets such as products, systems, software, facilities, people as they exist at specific points in time, and the relationship between all assets. A CMDB helps an organization understand the relationship between the components of a system and to track their configurations. The maintenance of this information allows for certain actions, such as the reconstruction of assets, to occur at any point in time. CMDBs can also be used for things like impact analysis, root cause analysis, or change management.