X/Open Co Ltd has quietly re-positioned its distributed systems management specification program around what it believes are some pragmatic goals predicated on the use of an Object Management Group Corba framework to implement them. Other specifications being created for network management will use the same Corba framework model. Within the framework, X/Open specifies the use of remote procedure calls for systems management and Simple Network Management Protocol and Common Management Information Protocol, CMIP, for network management tasks, though no particular implementation. The standards group has already created an XMP application programming interface specification for consistent access of Simple Network Management Protocol and CMIP protocols while application-level specifications are being developed using Remote Procedure Call as the underlying mechanism. The systems management working group’s common facilities management project is expected to advance its preliminary specification for managing instances of objects – a specification based on Tivoli Systems Inc’s original submission – to become a ratified Common Application Environment component by the end of the first quarter of next year. The specification is currently being put through its paces by the Object Group, which is also expected to adopt it; any changes will be fed back into the X/Open document. The standards group defines Common Applications Environment specifications as stable specifications designed to form the basis of X/Open-branded products. X/Open hopes that the industry will then use its specifications for product development and procurement purposes. An event management service specification which extends the Object Group’s event services by adding other management features is being worked up into a Common Applications Environment specification for the year-end.
Event management service
It will define an event management service for receiving events and a mechanism enabling applications to register to receive events in which they are interested. A preliminary topology management service supporting the interchange of topology information is due in the first quarter of 1997. A Common Applications Environment hierarchical storage management programming interface based on Data Management Interface Group work is due this quarter. Multiple Common Applications Environment specifications being developed for performance management in conjunction with the Performance Management Working group are due by the year-end. A distributed software administration specification, originally based on Hewlett-Packard Co submissions, also specifies Distributed Computing Environment bindings to go along with an existing Posix software administration standard, to become a Common Applications Environment specification by the year-end. A preliminary back-up services programming interface is now being pushed to a full Common Applications Environment specification also by the year-end. A preliminary distributed print specification which extends an existing Posix print standard is due in the fourth quarter. Systems management utilities specifications that embrace the traditional Unix systems management commands will become a Common Applications Environment specification by year-end. With the Network Management Forum, X/Open is creating a management protocol translation specification for static, compile-time and dynamic run-time translation that will enable the International Standards Organization-, Simple Network Management Protocol- and Object Group-based network and systems management systems to work together. Two preliminary specification documents are expected, one this quarter, the other by year-end. Also with the Network Management Forum, X/Open is building a C++ interface to ICO CMIP. A preliminary specification is due this quarter. Most of the above work is designed to operate at server level; at the desktop level X/Open says it is just about to open a dialogue with Microsoft Corp about how it can best make use of what Windows and Windows NT users
already have in their systems to build management specifications for.
