| Digital applauds OSF's preliminary release of the DME
(Distribution Management Environment) architecture on May 14th.
OSF is now doing a series of interviews with analysts and press, stating:
1 - DME will be delivered in 2 parts. The 1st part will be a
Distributed Services release extending DCE to support
distributed management (Printing, installation, licensing etc.)
which will be available 1st half of 1993, specifically June 30, 1993
The 2nd part of DME will be a Framework release, available 2nd
half of 1993, specifically December 31, 1993, including:
- the management framework and user interface
- development tools
- a sample application
2 - The first DME snapshot (unintegrated, unfinished from the
technology providers delivered to the OSF) was this month
3 - OSF will be the DME integrator with assistance from developers
from member companies
Digital's plan, then, is to use this OSF educational effort to
kick off our efforts to counter the messages that other vendors
"HAVE" DME today, or that they're "DME-compliant". To this end,
we will conduct some follow up press and analyst interviews to
hopefully get the following messages included in any press coverage
of the OSF DME activities. Feel free to share the information below
with your customers, or to use the information in response to questions.
Digital's DME Strategy and Support for DME
------------------------------------------
1) Other vendors have claimed DME-compliance, but it is now clear that the
DME integration process will dramatically change much of the technology sub-
mitted to OSF. Actual compliance can occur only after OSF develops
the DME compliance tests in December 1993, which is obviously
subsequent to the DME specifications availability, due 11/92.
Digital will be DME compliant based on these specifications and tests.
2) Digital will evolve DECmcc and other EMA products to become DME-compliant.
This will include implementing the OSF DME API's (both OMG CORBA and XMP)
starting immediately and will include other elements of the DME over time.
(See next item on APIs.)
3) Digital is pleased that the foundation of the OSF DME architecture
is the use of the OMG CORBA interface. This API must be used by management
applications to access the objects (devices, resources, services) managed
by DME. The OMG CORBA (Object Management Group - Common Object Request
Broker Architecture) is an object-oriented programming interface for
which the first commercially available product is Digital's ACA Services
(Application Control Architecture) product, which started shipping
in 1991. Digital made a significant contribution to the development
of OMG CORBA, and ACA Services is used extensively in a variety of
products in CIM and CASE. Work is already underway to implement the
OMG CORBA interface in DECmcc.
4) DECmcc is the only integrated network and system management platform
available today, providing the same broad solution that DME is envisioned
to provide. DECmcc's current object oriented infrastructure supports
SNMP, CMIP, and many other management protocols, which allows it to
become fully OSF DME compliant more easily than anticipated. Most
other vendors products are focused only on SNMP management and will
require significant modifications to become fully OSF DME compliant.
EMA and DME Compatibility
-------------------------
We are pleased that the DME is a resounding endorsement of Digital's
Enterprise Management Architecture, and the DECmcc implementation.
OSF's approach to the DME is consistent with concepts pioneered
by EMA and DECmcc during the late 1980s, including:
. Integration of System and Network Management
. Separation of the management system components into
managed resource, management framework & management applications.
. Object-oriented techniques to describe and implement management
interfaces to managed objects.
. Use of platform-, protocol-, location-independant interfaces
between management applications and managed resources.
. Use of dynamic binding model for communications between
applications and managed resources.
. Use of underlying services, such as DCE, supporting the framework
. Use of a interface specification language to populate a management
dictionary of the objects in the managed environment.
. Support for multiple (standard and proprietary) management
protocols, including both SNMP and CMIP
Now its known how the DME will be created from the MANY overlapping
technologies and APIs that it had accepted. Digital can now
formulate specific plans on how it will integrate the DME's
concepts and technologies into the EMA/Polycenter program.
Digital still holds to its promise to implement a DME-compliant product
within 6 months of DME availability, and hopefully much sooner.
It's now apparent that the DME will involve considerable new development
based on the selected technologies, rather than merely cutting and pasting
them together. For example, the core of the DME, WizDOM technology
from Tivoli Systems, must be ported onto DCE services, given a new API
based on the OMG CORBA interface , and will require a new compiler for
object definitions conformant to the new DME object model.
The object-oriented infrastructure is key to DME. For example, the
common, graphical Management User Interface (MUI) will be implemented
as objects, and will not be accessible through the XMP API, a low-level API
that is also in the DME. It is the key object-oriented API, OMG CORBA,
that was selected for DME, and was endorsed by X/Open and the NMF (Network
Management Forum). This API is based on Digital's ACA Services product, which
is shipping today. Therefore, Digital will move quickly to implement
the object-oriented API as the high-level API for applications, as well as
implement the lower-level XMP API.
Digital's DECmcc product will support the OMG CORBA interfaces, providing
access to the underlying object-oriented structure. Since much of the
object-oriented technology is available in DECmcc today, DECmcc is
well positioned to become Digital's DME product offering. Digital
is implementing this API in DECmcc and will subsequently offer all
DME capabilities. This will provide an excellent open interface
to the underlying object-oriented structure of DECmcc.
DECmcc Provides Fullest DME-comparable Functionality TODAY
----------------------------------------------------------
Digital remains fully committed to supporting the DME, as with all the
other OSF programs. Digital will be DME compliant and expect to
get there faster than anyone else. However with availability of the
DME framework and conformance tests from OSF over 18 months away,
DECmcc in the interim, offers an extremely viable product that:
. Is migrating immediately to SUPPORT DME APIs, in addition to
existing DECmcc APIs
. Offers generic (self extending, object independent) applications
in DECmcc (E.g. Forms and GUI Presentations styles; Alarms,
Notification, Historian Exporter, and Domain functions, and
access to SNMP and CMIP)
. Allows management of a large number of legacy and element management
systems, now including SNA management via NETview or NETmaster
Thus, DECmcc offers the best of the OSF DME today, and the
broad scope and functionality of DECmcc to do Enterprise Management.
Why not use the only one product available today that comes
close to being what the DME promises to be ? DECmcc !
For Further Information:
The following documents are available by contacting
Marijane (TOOK::) Beaudet, DTN 226-5380:
. A presentation of Digital's DME strategy (5 slides)
. The OSF DME Architecture (50 Page document)
. The OSF DME Architecture Presentation (35 slides - 2up/page)
. The XMP API specification (300 pages)
. The OMG CORBA specification/information
FOR INTERNAL PURPOSES ONLY: BACKGROUNDER ON HP Messages/OpenView
A few responses to HP's comments:
. HP products cannot "support the DME" or be "DME compliant"
for at least 18 months - no conformance tests exist or even detailed
specifications on what DME is !!!!
. Over the three phases of OpenView announced, HP has said:
OpenView Management Platform 3.0 includes a DME GUI
This obviously can't be a DME-compliant GUI, as no specification
exists, nor does HP use the Dialog Specification Language
to be used in DME to specify management application interactions with the GUI.
Release 3.1, will include the "Common Management API specified by the DME".
But CM API is NOT specified in the DME. XMP is included in the DME,
which is an enhanced X/OPEN Version of CM API, and will become the
low-level API in the DME (e.g. applications cannot access the GUI
through the XMP API).
Release 3.2, will support OSI's Common Management Information
Protocol. CMIP is also in DME, and CMIP (DECnet) has been in DECmcc
for 2 releases! Digital is pleased HP is finally supporting it,
and subsequently, looks forward to their support of CMIP over OSI.
. HP's statements like "OpenView 3.0 is the first product to be
available that is based on OSF DME technology", can be addressed
by stating that:
Openview is not BASED on DME technology,
DME is based on SOME OpenView technology for NETWORK management:
-- the low-level interface to the network objects to be managed
-- but to display these objects on the DME GUI requires
the OMB ORB API.
. HP's OpenView marketing is stating they're the
fast/smooth path to the DME, but, with every component (API,
GUI, agent code, etc.) changing dramatically, HP's Engineering
Manager told me they're worried HOW they can do that !
Ex. Northeast Consulting Resources Principal, James Herman,
said, "The DME is the only standards game in town in this area
and HP has crafted a very ambitious plan. Digital will be
providing the same comprehensive product plan to support it."
. If anything, Digital will have a much easier job migrating DECmcc to
to DME compliance than HP will have migrating OpenView, for the following
reasons:
Most DME concepts are derived from EMA and DECmcc - see list above
Digital was a primary source of the OMG CORBA interface
DECmcc is already object oriented and multiprotocol; all Digital has
to do is change APIs rather than completely redesign the
infrastructure.
. Digital has also contributed substantially to the underlying
standards in this area, including X/Open, OMG Object Model
and the developing System Management Object Model,
OSF Management SIG and POSIX 1003.7 System Administration.
FOR INTERNAL DIGITAL USE ONLY
DECmcc Commitment to DME is greater than HP Openview !
________________________________________________________________________________
Comparison of Offerings to DME
Components HP Openview OSF_DME DECmcc
Common GUI Announced V3.0 No Definition of Includes Common GUI
will include GUI available MOTIF GUI in
"DME-compliant" except that it'll use field test
MOTIF
Expected Ship: Expected Availability Will be DME-compliant
June 15 of DME Specification: within 6 months
11/92 of compliance test
availability
Compliance tests Will be DME-compliant
to be available within 6 months
12/93 of availability
from OSF
XMP Uses CM-API (from Includes as low- Already accesses
which XMP derived) level interface for SNMP, CMIP, & other/
access to SNMP/CMIP legacy protocols
Will include XMP also
Expected Availabil Will use and be
ity of DME Spec- DME-compliant
ification: 11/92
Compliance tests Will be DME-compliant
to be available 12 within 6 months
/93 of availability
from OSF
Object-oriented No time frame High-level API for Already includes
Interface specified applications and oo infrastructure.
Required interface to GUI
to use DME GUI.
Expected Availabil- Will ship with
ity of DME Spec- OMG CORBA interface
ification: 11/92 next year
Compliance tests Will be DME-compliant
to be available 12 within 6 months
/93 of availability
from OSF
SNMP Support Included since Will include in Included since
'90 12/93 Availability '90
CMIP Support Will include Q393 Will include 12/93 Included since
over IP ONLY (no OSI) 4/91 over DECnet
Platforms Runs on HP-UX, DOS OSF/1 only from OSF On VMS, Ultrix,
Supported (UI), Sun/OS, AIX System V; Others
to follow including
OSF/1
Multivendor Launch many appli- Constrained to platforms Launch many ap-
/Openness cations; Lots MIBs with OSF/DCE plications; Any
MIB can be com-
piled and included
Breadth of Network Management None; enabling Network, System,
Applications some Systems " Technology ONLY Security, Perfor-
mance Management,
plus Capacity Plan-
ning
Experience ? Doing Development Proven Investment
/Integration with Protection for SW
new team at OSF
BACKGROUND Q & A: FOR INTERNAL DIGITAL USE ONLY
1) When will Digital incorporate the OMG CORBA interface into DECmcc?
And can you tell me more about it ?
Efforts have already started, but certainly can't be
completed prior to availability of the API specifications
expected 11/92 at the earliest.
ACA is a NAS service that uses a flexible, object-oriented paradigm to
define the interaction, communication and flow control of independently
developed applications across different computing environments, including
different hardware platforms, different operating systems and across
multi-vendor networks. ACA Services, for example, supports MS-Windows,
and runs on Sun SPARCstation platforms.
2) Will Digital support a DME management product on MIPS ULTRIX?
Yes, it is likely that DECmcc will increasingly become
fully DME compliant on all platforms supported, which will still
include MIPS ULTRIX.
3) What is the timetable for supporting the management applications
that go along with DME such as print, license, and PC services?
The "Services" are extensions to the DCE, and aren't management
applications (as far as what OSF is calling them). As previously
committed, they will ship within 6 months of availability.
4) HP claims that their GUI has been accepted by OSF. Will Digital
adopt HP's GUI, or what ever DME finally decides on?
OSF DME includes technology from HP to create the DME GUI, but
the DME GUI will include DSL (Dialog Sepcification Language) to
display objects on the GUI. DSL is Tivoli technology and isn't
in Openview, nor has HP given a date for its inclusion.
5) Previous statements from Digital seem to indicate that there would be two
platforms. One that was strictly DME, the other would be MCC with
DME aspects. Does this announcement reflect a change in strategy?
This is definately different. Now that OSF has released more details
of their, we can now announce how DECmcc and EMA will evolve to
become DME-compliant.
6) Will Digital expose a SNMP API for application writers, and will the
CM-API or XMP API be exposed in the MCC/DME product?
We already have an SNMP API - ie. mcc_call - which can be used
now and in the future by applications writers!
And yes, XMP will be available to those applications that desire it.
7) What support will Digital give a vendor who wants to port their UNIX
based application to DECmcc? Are there guidelines?
Guidelines will be prepared this year, as well a facility to
launch applications from the DECmcc GUI in the same fashion as
other products, including Digital's MSU do today.
8) Did Digital receive the DME snapshot that was just released? What
is being done with it?
Digital is evaluating the DME Architecture, the component technology,
but hasn't yet needed nor purchased the first snapshot - we're
waiting until it's ported to OSF/1 and usable for our evaluation purposes.
9) When will OSI compliant CMIP be available on DECmcc?
We have CMIP (for DECNet/OSI - Phase V). We are working on one
that is NMF compliant and conforming to the new ISPs that are
currently being finalised.
10) What if any work is Digital doing with OSF to help DME come to market
faster?
Digital is working with the DME to provide architectural and development
assistance.
11) What was Digital's contribution to the OMG CORBA/ORB interface, and what
products from Digital make use of the ACA Services API today?
Digital was a major contributor to the CORBA effort. We provided
the Dynamic model, including run time recognition of new methods
and operations, the dynamic invocation interface, context objects,
and, in conjunction with Hyperdesk, the interface repository and
implementation repository.
12. Does the current ACA Services product conform to the CORBA
Specification which has been adopted by the OMG membership?
Yes. We support the dynamic API fully at this time. We will provide
support for the static API in the future.
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