SMI-S
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 an ISO standard. SMI-S is based upon the Common Information Model
and the Web-Based Enterprise Management
standards defined by the Distributed Management Task Force
, which define management functionality via HTTP. The most recent approved version of SMI-S is available at the SNIA.
The main objective of SMI-S is to enable broad interoperable management of heterogeneous storage vendor systems. The current version is SMI-S V1.5.0. Over 75 software products and over 800 hardware products are certified as conformant to SMI-S.
management profiles for storage systems. The complete SMI Specification is categorized in profiles and subprofiles. A profile describes the behavioral aspects of an autonomous, self-contained management domain. SMI-S includes profiles for Arrays
, Switch
es, Storage Virtualizers, Volume Management and many other domains. In DMTF parlance, a provider is an implementation for a specific profile. A subprofile describes part of the domain, which can be a common part in many profiles.
At a very basic level, SMI-S entities are divided into two categories:
Computer storage
Computer data storage, often called storage or memory, refers to computer components and recording media that retain digital data. Data storage is one of the core functions and fundamental components of computers....
standard
Standardization
Standardization is the process of developing and implementing technical standards.The goals of standardization can be to help with independence of single suppliers , compatibility, interoperability, safety, repeatability, or quality....
developed and maintained by the Storage Networking Industry Association
Storage Networking Industry Association
An association of producers and consumers of storage networking products, whose goal is to further storage networking technology and applications.The Storage Networking Industry Association, or SNIA, was incorporated in December, 1997, and is a registered 501 non-profit trade association...
(SNIA). It has also been ratified as an ISO standard. SMI-S is based upon the Common Information Model
Common Information Model (computing)
The Common Information Model is an open standard that defines how managed elements in an IT environment are represented as a common set of objects and relationships between them...
and the Web-Based Enterprise Management
Web-Based Enterprise Management
Web-Based Enterprise Management is a set of systems management technologies developed to unify the management of distributed computing environments. WBEM is based on Internet standards and Distributed Management Task Force open standards: Common Information Model infrastructure and schema,...
standards defined by the Distributed Management Task Force
Distributed Management Task Force
Distributed Management Task Force is an industry organization that develops, maintains and promotes standards for systems management in enterprise IT environments. These standards allow for building systems management infrastructure components in a platform-independent and technology-neutral way...
, which define management functionality via HTTP. The most recent approved version of SMI-S is available at the SNIA.
The main objective of SMI-S is to enable broad interoperable management of heterogeneous storage vendor systems. The current version is SMI-S V1.5.0. Over 75 software products and over 800 hardware products are certified as conformant to SMI-S.
Basic concepts
SMI-S defines CIMCommon Information Model (computing)
The Common Information Model is an open standard that defines how managed elements in an IT environment are represented as a common set of objects and relationships between them...
management profiles for storage systems. The complete SMI Specification is categorized in profiles and subprofiles. A profile describes the behavioral aspects of an autonomous, self-contained management domain. SMI-S includes profiles for Arrays
Disk array
A disk array is a disk storage system which contains multiple disk drives. It is differentiated from a disk enclosure, in that an array has cache memory and advanced functionality, like RAID and virtualization.Components of a typical disk array include:...
, Switch
Network switch
A network switch or switching hub is a computer networking device that connects network segments.The term commonly refers to a multi-port network bridge that processes and routes data at the data link layer of the OSI model...
es, Storage Virtualizers, Volume Management and many other domains. In DMTF parlance, a provider is an implementation for a specific profile. A subprofile describes part of the domain, which can be a 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 communications link (either within the data path or outside the data path) to providers.
- Servers are the devices under management. Servers can be disk arrays, virtualization engines, host bus adapters, switches, tape drives, etc.
SMI timeline
- 2000 – Collection of computer storage industry leaders led by Roger Reich begins building an interoperable management backbone for storage and storage networks (named Bluefin) in a small consortia called the Partner Development Process.
- 2002 – Bluefin donated by the consortia to the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) and later renamed to Storage Management Initiative – Specification or SMI-S. SMI-S 1.0 publicly announced by the SNIA.
- 2003 – The Storage Management Initiative launches formal industry wide specification development, interoperability testing and demonstrations programs, as well as conformance testingConformance testingConformance testing or type testing is testing to determine whether a product or system meets some specified standard that has been developed for efficiency or interoperability....
systems and certifications. Work proceeds in the SMI Technical Steering Committee and related TWGs. - 2004 – SMI-S 1.0.2 becomes an ANSIAmerican National Standards InstituteThe American National Standards Institute is a private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States. The organization also coordinates U.S. standards with international...
standard. Initial development of SMI-S 1.1.0 started. - 2005 – SMI-S 1.0.2 submitted to ISOInternational Organization for StandardizationThe International Organization for Standardization , widely known as ISO, is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations. Founded on February 23, 1947, the organization promulgates worldwide proprietary, industrial and commercial...
. - 2006 – SMI-S 1.0.3 accepted as an ISO standard. SNIA Technical Position of SMI-S 1.1.0 released. Working Drafts developed for SMI-S 1.2.0.
- 2007 – SMI-S 1.2.0 published as a SNIA Technical Position. Working Drafts developed for SMI-S 1.3.0 and SMI-S 1.4.0.
- 2008 – SMI-S 1.1.1 published as an ANSI standard and submitted to ISO for consideration as an ISO standard. SMI-S 1.3.0 published as a SNIA Technical Position.
- 2009 – SMI-S 1.3.0 submitted to INCITSINCITSThe InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards, or INCITS , is an ANSI-accredited forum of IT developers. It was formerly known as the X3 and NCITS....
for consideration as an ANSI standard. SMI-S 1.4.0 published as a SNIA Technical Position. Working Drafts developed for SMI-S 1.5.0. - 2010 – SMI-S 1.5.0 published as a SNIA Technical Position. Working Drafts developed for SMI-S 1.6.0.
- 2011 – SMI-S 1.1.1 published as an ISO standard, ISO/IEC 24775:2011. SMI-S 1.3.0 published as an ANSI standard: INCITS 388-2011. Development continues on SMI-S 1.6.0 in SNIA Technical Work Groups. Discussions are being conducted re a possible SMI-S V2.0.
Open source projects
- OpenPegasus.
- StorageIM SMI-S monitor client for SMI-enabled Arrays, Switches, HBAs and Storage Libraries.
- SBLIM Umbrella project for a collection of systems management tools to enable WBEM on GNU/Linux.
See also
- CIMCommon Information Model (computing)The Common Information Model is an open standard that defines how managed elements in an IT environment are represented as a common set of objects and relationships between them...
— Common Information Model - WBEMWeb-Based Enterprise ManagementWeb-Based Enterprise Management is a set of systems management technologies developed to unify the management of distributed computing environments. WBEM is based on Internet standards and Distributed Management Task Force open standards: Common Information Model infrastructure and schema,...
— Web-Based Enterprise Management - SNIAStorage Networking Industry AssociationAn association of producers and consumers of storage networking products, whose goal is to further storage networking technology and applications.The Storage Networking Industry Association, or SNIA, was incorporated in December, 1997, and is a registered 501 non-profit trade association...
— Storage Networking Industry Association
External links
- SNIA SMI-S homepage provides good material both at the overview and detail level.
- SMI Specification Approved specifications of the SMI.
- SMI-S Developers Group provides information to assist developers working with SMI-S.
- SMI-Lab Program homepage provides information on the SMI-Lab program, including dates for SMI-Lab plugfests.
- SNIA Conformance Testing Program (CTP) homepage describes how SNIA validates that a member company's products (software or hardware) conform to a particular version of SMI-S.
- DMTF standards contains a list of published DMTF standards.