CIM agent MDM infrastructure and environment IBM TotalStorage Productivity Center

With a Common Information Model (CIM) agent, programmers can use common building blocks rather than proprietary software or device-specific programming interfaces to manage CIM-compliant devices. Standardization of the way applications handle storage provides easier storage management.

Components

A CIM agent typically involves the following components:

agent code
An open-systems standard that interprets CIM requests and responses as they transfer between the client application and the device.
CIM object manager (CIMOM)
The common conceptual framework for data management that receives, validates, and authenticates the CIM requests from the client application. It then directs the requests to the appropriate component or device provider.
client application
A storage management program that initiates CIM requests to the CIM agent for the device.
device
The storage server that processes and hosts the client application requests.
device provider
A device-specific handler that serves as a plug-in for the CIM. That is, the CIMOM uses the handler to interface with the device.
Service Location Protocol (SLP)
A directory service that the client application calls to locate the CIMOM.
CIM agent at work

The CIM Agent typically works in the following way: The client application locates the CIMOM by calling an SLP directory service. When the CIMOM is first invoked, it registers itself to the SLP and supplies its location, IP address, port number, and the type of service it provides. With this information, the client application starts to directly communicate with the CIMOM.

The client application then sends CIM requests to the CIMOM. As requests arrive, the CIMOM validates and authenticates each request. It then directs the requests to the appropriate functional component of the CIMOM or to a device provider. The provider makes calls to a device-unique programming interface on behalf of the CIMOM to satisfy client application requests.

(C) Copyright International Business Machines Corporation 2004