New Server Management Working Group Formed by DMTF

Enterprise Networks & Servers,  Jan 2004  

• E-mail
• Print
• Link

Dell, HP, IBM and Intel Corp. have led the formation of the new Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) Server Management Working Group, reflecting the growing demand of customers for standard server hardware management interfaces.

The group includes other key technology companies, such as AMD, Microsoft, Oracle, OSA Technologies and Sun Microsystems, and will build and evolve the DMTF's Common Information Model (CIM) specification to deliver a platform-independent, industry standard server hardware management architecture across diverse IT environments in the data center. The group has committed to delivering its first specifications by July 1, 2004.

The DMTF Server Management Working Group will develop a common Command Line Interface (CLI) to enable local and remote management of server hardware in both operating system (OS)present and OS-absent environments. The group will also further evolve ClM to cover the latest server system topologies, such as blades and virtualized server systems. Realized through protocols, the specifications will deliver a lightweight, human-oriented CLI that can be mapped to CIM and driven by scripts.

"We compete in a market where both the economy and global competitors require us to be flexible and operate at a low cost," said Jeffrey M. Birnbaum, managing director, Morgan Stanley Institutional Securities IT. "The collaboration between the most influential industry vendors and the DMTF to extend CIM for a common management interface will be a tremendous benefit."

"As IT organizations face increasing complexity and costs associated with operating multiple server platforms across diverse departments, sites and geographies, continued work in the area of server management is critical," said Winston Bumpus, president of DMTF. "The DMTF is the logical place for this critical work to take place, and we look forward to the progress that will emerge in the near future from this new working group."

With more than 2,300 active members the DMTF, developer of CIM and WBEM, is the industry organization leading the development, adoption and interoperability of management standards and initiatives for enterprise and Internet environments. Further information is available at www.dmtf.org.

Copyright Publications & Communications, Inc. Jan 2004
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved