Facilitated by Justin Montgomery, University of Chicago
General
- Model contains different elements
- Relations between elements are dependency oriented (x-to-y-to-z)
- Elements and relations comprise high-level view of infrastructure
- System shows distinction between "notional" thing and the "physical" entities to help users understand how systems are tied together
- Can search for dependancies on a given system for a greater understanding of the impact of system outage
System
- Created using Java
- UI is Java Swing
- Plans for UI to be a Web app, eliminating the need for Java client
- Components are flexible, not server-dependent
- System creates Graph for visual representation of the ecosystem
- Graph can be exported and pulled into other systems
- Database can be exported to an OWL file for human readability
- Clusters and VMs are automated so users don't need to manually keep up with them
- Some things, however, need human intervention to make certain data is accurate and up to date
- Relational model has not been used in ordered to allow for future flexibility and extensibility without the need for blowing up DB and starting from scratchÂ
Discussion and Questions
- Relations become obvious as they are being created
- A Java framework has been developed to better leverage the system
- Can the maintenance workflow be expanded?
- Specifically to include import/export of new components/systems
- Has there been buy-in from groups for data entry?
- Meetings are held with other groups and changes are implemented by core group
- Change management process is still under development
- One issue is that at a certain level, it is only people who know what information needs to be included
- Wisconsin is using Service Desk for a similar undertaking, but it has inherent weaknesses
- A goal would be to get this application integrated with essential parts of Service Desk
- APIs will be/are being developed to make automation possible/easy
- Change Management process is critical to establish feedback loop
- The network layer, displaying "what depends on what" is a critical component
- This is good for reporting on what actual dependencies are, giving the organization a clearer picture of outage implications
- Web service to allow browsing from disparate systems into the IT Ecosystem via links