Component requirements

During the requirements phase, you must decide which aspects of your data center infrastructure should be implemented as components.

Most commonly, components are used to implement policies and services that affect multiple servers and are prone to misconfiguration. These uses can be categorized into:

• Software models — Defining and maintaining policies about infrastructure services and applications. At the infrastructure level, components are commonly used to manage implementation of application and database servers such as WebLogic and Oracle. At the application level, components can encapsulate complex programs such as web servers, backup agents, monitoring agents, and business service management systems.
• Compliance policies — Defining and maintaining collections of configuration policies, such as required settings for password lengths, password expiration periods, and lockout rules.