Common information vs. information overload [network management]

Coordinating management data across vendors and products is quickly becoming an overwhelming task. Sophisticated tools are needed to mine information from varying locations in MIBs, PIBs, CLI constructs, directory schemas, and other repositories and management standards. As data silos become larger and larger, and as individuals are expected to support more and more systems, the need for abstracted data that is consistent across vendors´ platforms has become a requirement. The detailed information required for management and configuration must be abstracted into well-defined and meaningful concepts and terms. These concepts should cross vendor and product boundaries. This paper first describes the contributing factors to today´s ineffective modeling efforts. It then proposes a new philosophy and approach for modeling management information, using relevant abstractions from the DMTF CIM Schema. Included in this work are recommendations to accomplish successful modeling of management data.