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Goodbye SNMP? Hello, WS-Management
Laoping writes "News.com has a story about a new Web services management specification designed to simplify network administration across a wide range of devices. A bunch of a big tech companies developed it together (Microsoft, Intel, AMD, Dell and Sun). Microsoft will build support for WS-Management into an update to Windows Server, which is due late next year, and in the version of its Microsoft Operations Manager management software due in 2006. The .PDF release, that makes it clear that it is meant to be a Simple Network Management Protocol killer. Now I am all for a replacement for SNMP, but is this the way go?"
The real power of snmp is what you can achieve through scripting it - queries and updates etc.
That becomes nigh-on impossible with this WS-Management craziness.
Typical Microsoft - always thinking there is some pleb click-clicking away.
Imagine you have to change some rmon threshold on 400+ devices, or integrate this with the corporate asset database.
Now you get the picture.
CIM is a fine, object-oriented replacement for SNMP, is mature and has XML-based communications over HTTP.
.PDF doesn't even reference CIM.
http://www.dmtf.org/standards/cim/
Microsoft already has a CIMOM implementation in its WMI service, although it uses DCOM to implement RPCs. Sun also has a CIMOM implementation for Solaris.
I find it very strange that the WS-Management
I don't mean to pooh pooh this idea just because it's somewhat Windows specific but the only real advantage I see to this over snmp is that the delivery modes are more sophisticated and the data can be organized hierarchally. So why not just add builtin event notification to snmp? Otherwise using XML for something that should be a low-cost service seems wrong to me. System monitoring should be as small and SIMPLE as possible to reduce the possibility for exploits as it will likely be running with a high level of anonymous access on almost every workstation, server, and router in the organization. The whole thing smells of XML pixie dust designed to drive up requirements and thus sell servers and new software to go with. If you have a problem with snmp then fix it. Don't reinvent it with techniques that are expensive in clock cyles and exploits.