CI Relationships in ServiceNow refer to the connections and dependencies between Configuration Items (CIs) stored in the Configuration Management Database (CMDB). These relationships are essential for understanding how different IT assets interact, depend on each other, and impact service delivery …CI Relationships in ServiceNow refer to the connections and dependencies between Configuration Items (CIs) stored in the Configuration Management Database (CMDB). These relationships are essential for understanding how different IT assets interact, depend on each other, and impact service delivery within an organization.
A Configuration Item represents any component that needs to be managed to deliver IT services, such as servers, applications, network devices, databases, and software. CI Relationships define how these items connect, creating a comprehensive map of your IT infrastructure.
There are several types of CI Relationships in ServiceNow:
1. **Parent-Child Relationships**: These establish hierarchical connections where one CI contains or owns another. For example, a server (parent) may host multiple virtual machines (children).
2. **Dependency Relationships**: These show which CIs rely on others to function properly. An application might depend on a specific database server to operate.
3. **Connection Relationships**: These indicate physical or logical connections between CIs, such as network cables connecting switches to routers.
4. **Membership Relationships**: These group CIs together, like servers belonging to a cluster.
The cmdb_rel_ci table stores all relationship records in ServiceNow. Each relationship record contains a parent CI, child CI, and relationship type that describes the nature of the connection.
Understanding CI Relationships provides several benefits for system administrators. During incident management, you can quickly identify affected services when a CI fails. Change management becomes more effective because you can assess the potential impact of modifications. Problem management benefits from tracing root causes through relationship chains.
The Dependency Views feature in ServiceNow provides visual representations of CI relationships, allowing administrators to see upstream and downstream dependencies. This graphical interface helps in impact analysis and service mapping.
Maintaining accurate CI relationships requires regular audits and updates through discovery tools or manual processes to ensure the CMDB reflects the current state of your infrastructure.
CI Relationships in ServiceNow
What are CI Relationships?
Configuration Item (CI) Relationships define how different CIs in the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) are connected to each other. These relationships establish dependencies, associations, and connections between infrastructure components, applications, services, and other assets within an organization.
Why CI Relationships are Important
CI Relationships are crucial for several reasons:
• Impact Analysis: Understanding which CIs depend on others helps determine the potential impact when changes occur or incidents happen • Root Cause Analysis: Relationships help trace problems back to their source by following connection paths • Change Management: Before making changes, teams can identify all affected components • Service Mapping: Relationships enable visualization of how business services are supported by underlying infrastructure • Compliance and Auditing: Proper relationship documentation supports regulatory requirements
How CI Relationships Work
CI Relationships are stored in the cmdb_rel_ci table. Each relationship record contains:
• Parent CI: The CI on one end of the relationship • Child CI: The CI on the other end of the relationship • Type: Defines the nature of the relationship (stored in cmdb_rel_type table)
Common Relationship Types:
• Runs on::Runs - An application runs on a server • Depends on::Used by - One CI depends on another • Contains::Contained by - Physical containment relationships • Connects to::Connected by - Network connections • Cluster of::Cluster - Clustering relationships
Relationship Direction
Relationships are bidirectional with parent and child descriptors. For example, if Server A Runs Application B, then Application B Runs on Server A. The relationship type table defines both the parent and child descriptor labels.
Viewing CI Relationships
• Navigate to a CI record and look for the Related Items tab or related lists • Use the Dependency Views to see graphical representations • Access cmdb_rel_ci.list to see all relationship records
Creating CI Relationships
Relationships can be created through: • Manual entry via the CI form • Discovery processes • Import sets and data imports • Service Mapping • Integration with third-party tools
Exam Tips: Answering Questions on CI Relationships
1. Know the key tables: Remember that cmdb_rel_ci stores relationship records and cmdb_rel_type stores relationship type definitions
2. Understand parent/child terminology: Questions often test your understanding of which CI is the parent versus the child in a given relationship scenario
3. Memorize common relationship types: Be familiar with standard relationships like Runs on, Depends on, Contains, and Connects to
4. Impact analysis scenarios: Expect questions about how relationships support impact analysis during incident or change management
5. Bidirectional nature: Remember that each relationship type has two descriptors - one for parent-to-child and one for child-to-parent
6. CMDB health: Understand that orphan CIs (those with no relationships) can indicate data quality issues
7. Discovery context: Know that Discovery automatically creates and maintains many CI relationships
8. Read carefully: Pay attention to whether questions ask about the relationship table versus the relationship type table
9. Service context: Understand how CI relationships support Business Service definitions and Service Mapping