How to implement Configuration Item (CI) in Calem

​ A Configuration Item (CI) is an entity in a configuration management (see wiki definition). It includes configuration parameters and assets or resources. A typical CI in Calem can be implemented by a configuration element (CE) as a location and its physical component as an asset. For example, a server CI includes a server location CE (where server configuration is maintained) and a server asset (where the physical attributes are maintained).

Categorization tree and category attributes are the starting points to implement CIs in Calem.

• Create a categorization tree to capture the CI types and their hierarchy.
• Create category attributes to capture the attributes for each CI type.
• Create a CE location with a categorization defined above. The CE location holds the configuration attributes in its category attributes. 
• Set the "Is CE" flag to checked.
• Set the parent location of the CE location based on the physical location where the CI is deployed.
• Create an asset of the CI and set its location to the CE location created above.

Using Location and Asset to implement a CI in Calem greatly simplifies the process of managing the association of a CE and its asset:

• ​An asset is always deployed to a location. Using a CE location reduces the need to manage a separate CE object as found in other solutions for CMDB (configuration management database).
  
• ​When an asset is moved from one CE location to another, its parameters can be adjusted based on the new CE location. The association of a CE and its asset are naturally bounded without additional overhead.
  

For instance, a server room is a location "SVR-025" in Calem. A router is deployed in the server room. A CE location is created as a child location of "SVR-025", The CE has configuration of the router including IP address, network mask, and SNMP parameters for monitoring. If the router is broken and replaced by a new router, the CE configuration is used to configure the new router. If the router is moved to another server room such as "SVR-035", the CE of "SVR-035" can be used to reconfigure the router.

Abstract CIs as CE Locations

Abstract CIs such as services or resources may not have corresponding assets. They can also be modeled as locations.

• Create the Categorization Tree and Category attributes for abstract CIs. For example, a support resource CI has a "Team" attribute being a support team.
• Create a location CI and place the location where applicable in a site.
• PMs and work orders can be created for the abstract CIs as well.

​ CI Relationship and Visualization 

The CI relationships can be defined between CEs. This feature will be added in a coming release after Calem Enterprise R11d. The relationships can be visualized in a diagram in Calem. The following is an example of relationship diagram.

Additional resources

• Categorization and Category Attributes
  
• User Guide and Admin Guide (customer account required)
• Calem Enterprise Training Site
  
• Calem Enterprise Blogs
  
• Calem Enterprise demo