Configuration Item - Databases DRAFT

A database is a collection of information that is organized so it can be easily accessed, managed, and updated. OIT provides a full range of database services from creating new databases to managing databases for clients across campus.

Because many OIT clients have their own naming standards for databases it is difficult to specify a standard that would meet the requirements of all clients. When a client has a specific database name they would like to use, that name should be used. When there is no such constraint, database names should follow the form of:

      {app_name} {modifier} [-dev]

Where:

{app_name}	The name of the application that will be the primary user of the database.
{modifier}	Any modifier may be used to help clarify the purpose of the database. For example, a database used to contain purchase order information in an accounting application might be named "accounting_purch"
{-dev}	A suffix used to indicate that the database is used for the development instance of an application. When an application has both a production and development instance, the development database name will be exactly the same as the production database name except the development database will include the "-dev" suffix.

Notes:

In all cases, symbols, integers, and upper and lower case alphabetic characters may be used in any combination that is compatible with the operating system supporting the database and the application that uses it.
It is generally not necessary to include the abbreviation "db" (meaning "database") in a database name. It is redundant information and makes the name more complex.
It is generally not necessary to include the type of database (oracle, sql, db2, etc.) in a database name. The users of the database will already know what kind of database they are working with and it makes the name more complex.

Database CI Name Examples

The following are examples of CI names that have been standardized using the conventions described above.

Common	Standard
gd-db.rgs.uci.edu	gd.rgs.uci.edu
gd-dev-db.rgs.uci.edu	gd.rgs.uci.edu-dev
db.research.uci.edu	research.uci.edu
dbdev.research.uci.edu	research.uci.edu-dev

Typical Life Cycle for Databases

(base this on "CI Life Cycle Summary: Software or Intangible Assets" but without the SDLC parts.)

CI Maintenance

Owner	Create CI	Change CI	Decommission CI	Maintain Relationships	Comments
OIT group responsible supporting the service.	Service Owner Configuration Review Team	Service Owner Configuration Review Team	Service Owner	Service Owner Configuration Review Team