Configuration management… More than meets the eye

I’ll be honest, when I initially saw the words configuration management, I only thought of managing device configurations. You know, things like keeping backup copies of configurations in case a device bit the bucket. However, the longer I’ve been in the IT field, the more I’ve learned how short-sighted I was in relation to what configuration management truly meant. Hopefully, by the end of this post, you will either nod and agree or thank me for opening your eyes to an aspect of IT that is typically misunderstood or severely neglected.

There are several components of configuration management that you, as an IT professional should be aware of:

• Device hardware and software inventory
• Software management
• Configuration backup, viewing, archiving, and comparison
• Detection and alerting of changes to configuration, hardware, or software
• Configuration change management

Let’s briefly go over some of these and why they are so integral to maintaining a healthy network.

Most (hopefully all) IT teams keep an inventory of hardware and software that they support. This is imperative for things like service contract renewals and support calls. But, how you keep track of this information usually calls for question. Are you manually keeping track of this information using Excel spreadsheets or something similar? I would agree that it works, but in a world so hellbent on automation, why risk human error? What if you forget to add a device and it goes unnoticed? Wouldn’t it be easier to have software that automatically performs an inventory of all your devices?

One of my favorite components of configuration management is configuration backup and the ability to view those backups as well as compare them to previous backups. If your Core switch were to fail today, right now, are you prepared to replace it? I’m not talking about calling your vendor’s support to have them ship out a replacement. I’m talking about rebuilding that new shiny piece of hardware to its predecessor’s last working state. If you have backups, that process is made easy. Grab the latest backup and slap it on the new device when it arrives. This will drastically cut down the recovery time in a failure scenario. Need to know what’s changed between the current configuration and 6 months ago for audit purposes? Having those backups and a mechanism for comparing them goes a long way.

There are a number of ways to know when an intruder’s been in your network. One of those methods is through the detection and alerting of changes made to your devices. If you don’t have something in place that can detect these changes in real-time, you’ll be in the dark in more ways than one. How about if a co-worker made an “innocent” change before going on vacation that starts to rear its ugly head? Being able to easily generate real-time alerts or reports will help pinpoint the changes and get your system purring like a kitten once again.

In conclusion, configuration management is not just about keeping backups of your devices on hand. It involves keeping inventories of those devices as well as being able to view, archive, and compare their configurations. It also includes being able to easily detect and alert on changes made to your devices for events like catching network intruders. Are you practicing good configuration management techniques?