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Enterprise Configuration Management: TamingITInfrastructure

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Enterprise Configuration Management:

Enterprise Configuration Management:

Taming IT Infrastructure

Taming IT Infrastructure

Dennis Moreau, PhD Dennis Moreau, PhD Chief Technology Officer Chief Technology Officer

Configuresoft, Inc. Configuresoft, Inc. 800 Research Drive, Suite 150

800 Research Drive, Suite 150

Woodland Park, CO 80863 Woodland Park, CO 80863 (719) 447 (719) 447--46094609 (719) 447 (719) 447--46014601 Dennis.Moreau@Configuresoft.com Dennis.Moreau@Configuresoft.com

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System Configuration and Enterprise

System Configuration and Enterprise

Configuration Management

Configuration Management

System Configuration

- Settings, components and

dependencies which control/affect the behavior of

computer systems, services and applications.

Enterprise Configuration Management

- The

enterprise-wide establishment, monitoring, correction

and analysis of system and inter-system

configurations with the goal of optimizing the

effectiveness and minimizing the cost of IT

infrastructure operation (in the face of constant

change).

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Configuration Management:

Configuration Management:

Disciplinary Evolution

Disciplinary Evolution

User Configuration Management

– making user

settings and profiles ubiquitously available

Software Configuration Management

– tools and

techniques used to manage change to software

assets, Ref.: “Software Configuration Management

Strategies”, Brian White, Addison Wesley, 2000;

different systems components require different

software deployment/change frameworks

Enterprise Configuration Management

-

enterprise-wide establishment, monitoring, correction and

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Motivation

Motivation

Value

• Availability –achieving 99+% availability requires “…careful Planning, rigorous configuration control and diligent change management…”, Ref.: Achieving High Availability for Critical Distributed Applications”, Gartner, 6/26/1997

• Security – recent devastating E-commerce intrusions were permitted by systems up to a year out of date on published hot fixes, Ref.: FBI, NIPC Adivsory 01-003

• Efficiency – regular configuration inventory reduces IT cost per PC, Ref.: Lowering Help Desk Costs With LAN Based Inventory Tools, Gartner, 17, July 1997

Not effectively addressed by other system

management disciplines

(5)

Enterprise Configuration Management:

Enterprise Configuration Management:

The Problems

The Problems

Different systems, applications and services

represent configuration information in different

mechanisms accessible through many

different APIs

Comprehensive configuration information is

distributed across thousands of data elements

Different configuration settings are often

tightly coupled by application requirements

(6)

Enterprise Configuration Management:

Enterprise Configuration Management:

Process

Process

Formulate/Adjust Formulate/Adjust Configuration Configuration Standards Standards Determine Current Determine Current Configurations Configurations Compare Observed Compare Observed Configurations to Configurations to Standards Standards Correct Non

Correct Non--compliantcompliant Configurations

Configurations

Evaluate IT Needs

Evaluate IT Needs Determine SystemDetermine System

Interdependencies

Interdependencies

Plan for Change

Plan for Change

Impact

(7)

Formulate/Adjust Configuration

Formulate/Adjust Configuration

Specifications

Specifications

Sources of Configuration Standards:

Corporate Standards

Consultant Best Practices Recommendations

Vendor Recommendations

Sources of Configuration Change:

Emergent security fixes

Technology evolution

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Determine Current Configurations

Determine Current Configurations

Sources of Configuration Information (NT):

• Registry

• WMI: CIM and Providers • Active Directory

• SAM Database • File System

• Configuration Tools: IPCONFIG, Collect.exe, … • Application Management API’s

• Stored Procedures • Metabase

• Idiosyncratic Files

• … and many others…

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Determine System Interdependencies

Determine System Interdependencies

Typical Interdependencies:

• DHCP, WINS, DNS … • GC Replicants

• Active Directory

• Client/Service Component Consistency (MDAC, SQL …) • Down Level Service Systems

• Shared resources • …

Identification of dependencies requires

comprehensive monitoring of detailed settings,

versions, service packs, hot fixes …

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Compare Observed Configurations to

Compare Observed Configurations to

Standards

Standards

Expressing Standards

• Scope: Not all standards apply to all systems

• Secure: Compliance conveys potentially sensitive information • Versioning: All standards are subject to potentially rapid

change (security exposures, incompatibility with key application upgrades, emergent business need…)

Results of Comparison

• Clear indication of the specific cause of the variance • Provision for granting permanent and semi-permanent

exceptions

• Provision for surfacing variances despite large amounts of compliant data (e.g. drill down, alerts, summary results…)

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Plan for Change Management

Plan for Change Management

Enterprise Configuration Management

systems are able to facilitate inter-system

configuration change by:

Easily identifying the scope of systems affected by

proposed changes

Comprehensively identifying specific dependencies

across interacting systems

Verifying that complex configuration changes are

indeed in place

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Correct Non

Correct Non

-

-

Compliant Configurations

Compliant Configurations

Most configuration changes can be adjusted through

configuration APIs.

Some configuration changes require integration with

software distribution facilities

All configuration change requires knowledge of

application/service imposed ad hoc compatibility

restrictions

“Getting it right the first time” is important because

many configuration changes are irreversible

Confirming that intended configuration changes have

actually been effectively made is essential

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Interfaces to Other Systems

Interfaces to Other Systems

Management Applications

Management Applications

Management Applications

• Help Desk Management • Event Management

• Service Level Management • …

Key Integration Technologies

• XML – Inter application data interchange

• DMTF CIM – Cross platform queries using the CIM Common schema

• SNMP – Access to specialty system and component MIBs

• Directory Integration – Consistent group naming and definition, RBAC, Location services…

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Enterprise Configuration Management

Enterprise Configuration Management

Application Requirements

Application Requirements

• Very low CPU, Memory, I/O and footprint impact on monitored systems

• Minimized and controllable impact on network infrastructure

• Scalability that covers the many interdependent systems within an enterprise

• Provide visibility of important information in the midst of large amounts of data

• Provide facilities for establishing and verifying compliance to configuration standards

• Provide mechanisms for integration with other system management facilities

• Timely analysis across large numbers of systems implies the need for a configuration data repository

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Summary

Summary

By providing key Information for configuration control, enterprise configuration management facilitates:

• Increasing the degree of compliance with proven configuration standards (early, detailed alerts to configuration drift)

• Improving system availability by supporting adherence to best practices and providing more detailed change

management/system dependency information

• Improving MTTR by providing access to detailed historical configuration data to inform IT problem response

• Reduced Vulnerability Through more Rapid Identification and Deployment of Emergent OS, Service and Application Fixes • More reliable software deployment by verifying successful

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