Systems and methods for database delta automation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2021406274-A1
Application number	US-202016917371-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 30, 2020
Priority date	Jun 30, 2020
Publication date	Dec 30, 2021
Grant date	—

Abstract

The present disclosure relates generally to a system and method for the derivation of deltas. In certain embodiments, a configuration management database (CMDB) is configured to store configuration item (CI) information. One or more templates are also provided. The one or more templates are communicatively coupled to the CMDB and executable via a processor, wherein the one or more templates are configured to derive a delta comprising a difference in hosts between a first list of hosts stored in the CI information and a second list of hosts stored in an external database, wherein the external database is communicatively coupled to an external system external to the CMDB and is configured to store the second list of hosts provided via the external system.

First claim

1 . A computing system, comprising:
a configuration management database (CMDB) configured to store configuration item (CI) information; and one or more templates communicatively coupled to the CMDB and executable via a processor, wherein the one or more templates are configured to derive a delta comprising a difference in hosts between a first list of hosts stored in the CI information and a second list of hosts stored in an external database, wherein the external database is communicatively coupled to a system external to the CMDB and is configured to store the second list of hosts provided via the external system.

2 . The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more templates comprise a visual program executable by the processor and created via a visual programming system in lieu of typing computer code.

3 . The computing system of claim 2 , wherein the visual programming system is configured to enable a user to execute the one or more templates and then to change at least one Boolean logic element, at least one direction of program flow element, at least one Action, at least one Step, at least one Subflow, or a combination thereof, included in the one or more templates without typing computer code.

4 . The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the external system comprises a vulnerability scanning system configured to scan the second list of hosts for vulnerabilities.

5 . The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more templates are configured to validate the hosts in the delta to derive if one or more of the hosts are found connected to a network system.

6 . The computing system of claim 5 , wherein the one or more templates are configured to validate the hosts by executing a parallel subflow for each one of the host in the delta.

7 . The computing system of claim 6 , wherein the parallel subflow is configured to execute a ping command, a trace route command, a whois command, or a combination thereof, to validate the host.

8 . The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more templates are configured to derive a second delta comprising a second difference in hosts between the first list of hosts stored in the CMDB and a third list of hosts stored in a second external database, wherein the second external database is communicatively coupled to a second system external from both the CMDB and from the external database and is configured to store the third list of hosts provided by the second external system.

9 . The computing system of claim 8 , wherein the second external system comprises a vulnerability management system configured to manage vulnerabilities for each host in the third list of hosts.

10 . The computing system of claim 1 , comprising an issue tracking system configured to track the CI issues and to store the first list of hosts in the CMDB, wherein the CMDB is configured to store interdependencies between the hosts, applications executable by the hosts, hardware used by the hosts, or a combination thereof, and to visualize the interdependencies.

11 . A method, comprising:
storing configuration item (CI) information in a configuration management database (CMDB); and executing, via a processor, one or more templates communicatively coupled to the CMDB to derive a delta comprising a difference in hosts between a first list of hosts included in the CI information and a second list of hosts stored in an external database, wherein the external database is communicatively coupled to an external system external to the CMDB and is configured to store the second list of hosts provided via the external system.

12 . The method of claim 11 , comprising creating, before executing, the one or more templates via a visual programming system executable by the processor in lieu of typing computer code.

13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the visual programming system is configured to enable a user to execute the one or more templates and then to change at least one Boolean logic element, at least one direction of program flow element, at least one Action, at least one Step, at least one Subflow, or a combination thereof, included in the one or more templates without typing computer code.

14 . The method claim 11 , comprising executing the one or more templates to validate the hosts in the delta to derive if one or more of the hosts are found in a network system by utilizing a management, instrumentation, and discovery (MID) server.

15 . The method of claim 11 , wherein executing the one or more templates to validate the hosts comprises executing a parallel subflow for each host in the delta.

16 . A non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by a processor of a computing system, the instructions configured to:
store configuration item (CI) information in a configuration management database (CMDB); and execute, via the processor, one or more templates communicatively coupled to the CMDB to derive a delta comprising a difference in hosts between a first list of hosts stored in the CI information and a second list of hosts stored in an external database, wherein the external database is communicatively coupled to an external system external to the CMDB and is configured to store the second list of hosts provided via the external system.

17 . The computer-readable medium of claim 16 , comprising instructions configured to create, before executing, the one or more templates via a visual programming system executable by the processor in lieu of typing computer code.

18 . The computer-readable medium of claim 16 , comprising instructions configured to execute the one or more templates to derive a second delta comprising a second difference in hosts between the first list of hosts stored in the CMDB and a third list of hosts stored in a second external database, wherein the second external database is communicatively coupled to a second external system external from the CMDB and from the first database and is configured to store the third list of hosts provided via the second external system.

19 . The computer-readable medium of claim 18 , comprising instructions configured to validate the hosts in the delta and in the second delta to derive if one or more of the hosts are found connected to a network system.

20 . The computer-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the instructions configured to validate the hosts comprise instructions that execute a parallel subflow for each one of the hosts.

Assignees

• Servicenow Inc

Inventors

• Lei Max Qiwen
• Lindstrom Jacob Roland
• Linnenkamp Brian James
• Patil Suvarna
• Baker Demietrich

Classifications

• H04L67/63

  Routing a service request depending on the request content or context · CPC title

• H04L63/1433

  Vulnerability analysis · CPC title

• H04L67/1095 Primary

  Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes · CPC title

• H04L67/02

  based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP] · CPC title

• H04L67/1097

  for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS] · CPC title