SMI-S
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
SMI-S, or the Storage Management Initiative - Specification, is a storage standard developed and maintained by the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA). It has also been ratified as ANSI standard ANSI INCITS 388-2004. SMI-S is based upon the Common Information Model and the Web-Based Enterprise Management standards defined by the Distributed Management Task Force.
The main objective of SMI-S is to enable broad interoperability among heterogeneous storage vendor systems. The current version is SMI-S V1.1.0. Over 280 products from 18 SNIA Member companies are certified as conformant to SMI-S 1.0.2.[1] A detailed tutorial for developing and marketing SMI-S compliant storage systems is provided at the WBEM Solutions site.[2]
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[edit] What is SMI-S?
SMI-S is a model - SMI-S is a guide to building systems using modules that plug together. SMI-S-compliant storage modules interoperate in a system and function in consistent, predictable ways, regardless of which vendor built them, provided that the modules use CIM language and adhere to sets of specifications called CIM schema.
SMI-S is object-oriented - Virtually anything storage related, physical or abstract, from complex device management applications to bad sectors on a disk platter, can be defined as a CIM object. A system is modeled using objects that have defined attributes. In addition, any object known now or yet to be developed can be defined and encompassed within the model. The SMI-S object orientation allows storage fabrics to scale and adapt to changes in technology over time.
SMI-S is command and control-oriented - Unlike SNMP which is now commonly used to integrate storage management applications at a basic level, SMI-S is both passive (like SNMP) and active, allowing management applications to not only monitor devices within a storage fabric, but also to dynamically configure/reconfigure devices. Command and control of both devices and fabrics can be automated using SMI-S enabled storage management applications. SMI-S helps to unlock some of the unrealized benefits of intelligent storage fabrics in ways that SNMP cannot.
SMI-S provides a single unified view of a SAN - SANs are often thought of as single entities, commonly depicted as clouds or referred to as fabrics. SMI-S allows developers to model a SAN as a single, abstracted entity.
[edit] Basic Concepts
SMI-S defines DMTF management profiles for storage systems. The complete SMI Specification is categorised in profiles and sub-profiles. A profile describes the behavioral aspects of an autonomous, self-contained management domain. SMI-S includes profiles for Arrays, Switches, Storage Virtualizer, Volume Management and many other domains. In DMTF parlance, a provider is an implementation for a specific profile. A sub-profile describes part of the domain, which can be common part in many profiles.
At a very basic level, SMI-S entities are divided into two categories:
Clients are management software applications that can reside virtually anywhere within a network provided they have a physical link (either within the data path or outside the data path) to providers.
Providers are the devices under management within the storage fabric.
Clients can be host-based management applications (e.g., storage resource management, or SRM), enterprise management applications, or SAN appliance-based management applications (e.g., virtualization engines). Providers can be disk arrays, host bus adapters, switches, tape drives, etc.
[edit] SMI Timeline
- 2002 - Creation of BlueFin, which was later renamed as SMI-S.
- 2003 - SMI-S 1.0 publicly announced by the SNIA. Also created the SNIA Conformance Testing Program.
- 2004 - SMI-S 1.0.2 becomes an ANSI standard. Starts the initial development of SMIS 1.1.0.
- 2005 - SMI-S 1.0.2 submitted to ISO. Releases SMI-S 1.1.0.
[edit] See also
- CIM - Common Information Model
- WBEM - Web Based Enterprise Management
- SNIA - Storage Networking Industry Association
[edit] External links
- SNIA SMI-S Homepage provides good material both at the overview and detail level.
- SMI Specification Approved Specifications of the SMI
[edit] References
- ^ SMI Timeline from SMI Marketing Tutorial
- ^ SMI Tutorials for developing and marketing SMI-S compliant storage systems.
