Glossary
This document lists the main terms used in the CMDB system and their definitions.
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| CMDB | Configuration Management Database — an enterprise-grade information management system for unified management of IT configuration items and their relationships |
| ITOM | IT Operations Management — an integrated operations management solution |
| Configuration Item (CI) | The basic data unit managed by CMDB, representing an IT asset that needs to be managed, such as Server, Application, Database, etc. |
| CI Type | Defines the data structure of a configuration item, including attributes, identification rules, and relationships |
| Identification Rule | Rules for determining whether two CIs represent the same entity, including matching rules and validation rules, used for data deduplication and merging |
| CI Relationship | A connection between two CIs, describing their dependency, ownership, and other associations |
| Relationship Type | A generic definition of relationship categories, such as depends on, runs on, contains, etc. |
| Valid Link | Constraints defined in CI types that specify which types can establish which types of relationships |
| Strong Dependency | A relationship where CIs must depend on others, defining which CIs (e.g., Database, Disk) must be attached to other CIs before they can be created |
| Source Type | The starting CI type of a relationship |
| Target Type | The ending CI type of a relationship |
| Forward Relationship | A relationship from the source type pointing to the target type |
| Backward Relationship | A relationship from the target type pointing to the source type |
| TQL | Topology Query Language — used for cross-type querying of CIs and their relationships |
| Type Tree | A component that displays the CI type hierarchy in a tree structure |
| Topology Diagram | A visualization that displays CIs and their relationships graphically |
| Node | A graphical element in a topology diagram representing a CI |
| Edge/Link | A connection line in a topology diagram representing a relationship between CIs |