Systems Management Protocols

Overview

Systems management protocols are the rules of communication between agents and managers. The most common management protocols are SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol), DMI (Desktop Management Interface), and CIM (Common Information Model).

Dell believes industry-standard technology is the most cost-effective way to manage mixed computing environments. With standards-based systems management you are not tied to a proprietary set of tools.

If desired, Dell servers (and management-capable Dell client systems) can be managed by other standards-compliant systems management software instead of our our own IT Assistant. OpenManage Connections provides enhancements to the capabilities of other systems management tools.

Deploying systems that use standard instrumentation enables your organization to quickly:

• monitor system status
• check hardware and software configuration
• perform a general asset inventory

The Distributed Management Task Force (of which Dell is a member) has been working with the IT industry to define management information for manageable objects. Manageable objects may be computers, software, or other devices. DMTF standards have been developed with broad industry participation, with a view to including information that is commonly considered to be useful to the systems management profession.

SNMP, DMI, and CIM are the most commonly supported systems management protocols in use today. All three of these management standards provide viable systems management functionality.

Section Objectives

After completion of this section, you will be able to:

• Identify SNMP, DMI, and CIM as systems management protocols.
• Understand the reliance of SNMP upon TCP/IP and UDP.
• Identify the components of DMI and their function.
• Identify MIBs as the data structure for SNMP.
• Identify MIFs as the data structure for DMI.
• Identify MOFs as the data structure for CIM.