Genesis

The configurations used by Genesis to create preconfigured application packages are maintained in the Genesis Configuration Hierarchy (GCH) which stores the configuration data in XML files which are validated against XML schema and organised in a simple hierarchical structure on the file system. The hierarchical structure of the GCH is itself highly configurable however as a simple starting point the standard GCH is designed to reflect commonly occurring logical and physical structures found in any organisation that maintains it’s own IT. Before examining the GCH in more detail we will explain the rational and principles behind its design which are:

• Intuitive: All configuration items stored in the GCH comply with our standard nomenclature which encodes their location in the configuration hierarchy. Once users become familiar with the simple hierarchical structure of the GCH and the naming conventions which govern it they are able to locate and alter configuration items of interest extremely quickly, without the need for any proprietary search tools or specialist applications.
• Simple: “Out of the box” the GCH does not require a relational database management system (RDBMS), proprietary validation tools or reporting applications. By maintaining all configurations in the GCH in open standards XML files, validation is achieved using XML schema and reports are created using XML Style-sheets. The GCH itself can be version controlled by your organisations existing version control tools.
• Rationalised: The hierarchical structure of GCH facilitates the reuse of configurations by child nodes and by doing so allows dependencies to be traced throughout the system.

Logical Configuration

The logical branch of a configuration hierarchy captures information relating to abstract objects such as services, IT environments and applications deployed by the enterprise. Within every environment multiple applications may be used to implement a particular service. For example ACME Bank may have an on-line banking service deployed to development, UAT, integration and production environments. In the development environment a WebLogic server and Oracle database are used to implement the service, while on the production environment a complete suite of applications might be deployed.

Physical Configuration

The physical branch of a configuration describes the properties of a real objects rather than abstract entities for example, data centres; racks and servers configurations will be maintained in the physical configuration hierarchy. ACME banks physical configuration branch might describe multiple data centres with numerous racks installed with dozens of servers and network devices. When Genesis builds an application it combines logical and physical configurations and transcribes them with the application archetype. The result is an application that is configured for a logical environment located in a physical data centre.