Cloudaware Applications - Overview

A CloudAware Application is a logical unit used to organize resources based on a naming convention, a tag, or any other custom logic defined by the customer.

Key features

• Multi-cloud and non-cloud support

• Cascades provide the ability to attach object hierarchies by attaching a single object

• Inventory automation using auto-attachment rules

• The ability to attach objects that are not taggable or exceed the tag limit

Use cases

CloudAware Applications can be created to distinguish between:

• Departments, teams, sites, or projects within an organization

• Customers, for Managed Service Providers (MSPs)

• Purchasers, for resellers

• Other logical groupings as needed

Creating separate applications is especially useful when:

1. The Cloudaware environment includes a mix of AWS, Azure, GCP, and physical servers, and access should be limited to a specific platform (e.g., AWS only).

2. Access needs to be restricted to a specific resource, such as a single AWS instance.

Create applications as early as possible. Billing and cost data is not collected retrospectively—it is available in the application only from the creation date onward.

Prerequisites

Identify the resources that should be associated with the Cloudaware application. Define the logic for assigning these resources to the appropriate tiers within the application.

Create Cloudaware Application

1. Log in to the Cloudaware account. In CMDB Navigator, locate the section CLOUDAWARE → Applications. 
   

   

2. Click New Cloudaware Application.
   

   

3. Enter a meaningful name for the application → click Create.
   

   

   
   In this example, we create an application named AWS to group production AWS EC2 instances.
   

4. Click Go To Application Settings to configure tiers.
   

   

5. Click Add Tier.
   

   

   
   Enter a meaningful tier name, e.g. Prod, and click Add Tier to save.
   

   

   
   Click Save to save the application.
   

   

6. Go back to CMDB Navigator to select the resource type, e.g. AWS EC2 Instances.
   

   

7. Open a relevant list view, e.g. Running Instances. Select the instances for attachment.
   

8. Click the three-dot menu → Attach To The Application.
   

   

9. Select the appropriate application and tier.
   

   

   

   Review the resources to be attached and click Attach.
   

If a warning appears, one or more of the selected objects are already attached to another application.

Click Yes, Continue to proceed, or click Detach Objects to remove the selected objects from the existing application first.

10. Click Done and proceed to review the application inventory.
    

Cascades

Consistency is a key challenge in managing both cloud and non-cloud environments. One best practice is to leverage relationships between objects to maintain a consistent and automatically updatable inventory.

Cloudaware Applications support cascades, meaning that when a resource is attached to an application, all related objects are automatically attached as well.
For example, attaching an AWS EC2 Instance will also attach its associated EBS Volumes and Network Interfaces.

Considerations

• Attach higher-level objects when possible:
  Before selecting an object for attachment, consider whether a parent object in the hierarchy can be attached instead.

  • Prefer attaching AWS ELB Load Balancers over individual EC2 instances.

  • Prefer attaching AWS Elastic Beanstalk Applications over Elastic Beanstalk Environments.

  • Always prefer attaching URLs, which serve as top-level identifiers in many configurations.

• Minimize manual attachments:
  If a logical pattern exists for determining which objects should be attached to an application, implement that logic as an auto-attachment rule. This ensures Cloudaware continuously tracks and attaches new resources that meet the criteria. Manual attachment should be limited to truly static resources that are not expected to change over time.

Cascades work best for complex services with many interconnected components. For standalone or loosely connected resources, implement an automated process that evaluates each asset against predefined rules and assigns it to the appropriate application.