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.
A CIM agent typically involves the following components:
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.