Object manager for common information model

• US 7,380,249 B2
• Filed: 03/01/2005
• Issued: 05/27/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/06/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: McCollum, Raymond W., Hudis, Irena
• Primary Examiner(s): BULLOCK JR, LEWIS ALEXANDER
• Application Number:
  US11/070,011
• Publication Number:
  US 20050193109A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,183 Days
• Field of Search: 719/316, 719/315, 709/223, 709/224
• US Class Current: 719/316
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2471 Distributed queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/25 Integrating or interfacing systems involving database management systems

Abstract

A common information model (CIM) enables management application programs to receive uniformly rendered results regardless of the source of the information. A CIM object manager isolates the applications from internal components which retrieve the information from various sources and through various other components, and provides refinements to that model that improve the exchange of information. In addition to providing uniform rendering of management information to a client applications, the CIM object manager dynamically adapts to complement the capabilities of the information providers, whereby the information providers may do so in a highly flexible manner. The CIMOM also decomposes a client query to determine the appropriate source or sources of information necessary to resolve that query, and further handles client queries having inherited object classes to render appropriate results in a uniform manner.

Claims

1. In a computer network having a management application that manages network devices, a system comprising,

a database having information therein that relates network devices to information providers;

a set of information providers including at least one information provider connected to a managed network device; and

an object manager being configured to receive a request from a management application requesting management information that corresponds to dynamic data of the managed network device, and in response to the request, the object manager being further configured to;

query the database and receive data therefrom indicative of which information provider or providers correspond to the managed device;

communicate the request to a corresponding provider for the managed device to request the dynamic data therefrom, the corresponding provider connected to the managed network device to obtain dynamic data therefrom;

determine a capability level of the corresponding provider by evaluating a response from the provider;

upon determining that, based on the response, the provider cannot handle the request, simplify the request;

communicate the simplified request to the corresponding provider;

receive from the corresponding provider the dynamic data obtained from the selected device; and

return the management information including the dynamic data in response to the request from the management application.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the object manager returns the management information in an data structure corresponding to an instance of an object that represents the managed device.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein the data structure is configured as a uniformly rendered object.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the management information requested by the management application further corresponds to static data, and wherein the object manager returns the management information including the static data to the management application.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein the database maintains at least some of the static data requested by the management application.

6. The system of claim 4 further comprising a static provider, wherein the object manager communicates with the static provider to obtain at least some of the static data requested by the management application.

7. In a computer network having a management application that manages network objects, a method, comprising,

receiving a request from the management application seeking information including dynamic property data of a selected network object;

querying a database to determine a dynamic information provider that corresponds to the selected network object;

communicating the request to the dynamic information provider to request the dynamic property data of the selected network object;

determining a capability of the dynamic information provider based on a response from the dynamic information provider;

upon determining that, based on the response, the provider cannot handle the request, simplifying the request;

communicating the simplified request to the dynamic information provider;

the dynamic information provider, in response to the simplified request, obtaining and returning the dynamic property data of the selected network object; and

returning the dynamic property data of the selected network object to the management application.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the database further returns static property data of the selected network object, and further comprising aggregating the dynamic property data with the static property data into an aggregated result, and wherein the dynamic property data is returned to the management application via the aggregated result.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein aggregating the data includes writing property values into a data structure.

10. The method of claim 7 further comprising, filtering selected data received from at least one of the sources of system information.

11. The method of claim 7 further comprising, separating the request from the management application into a plurality of separate requests, each separate request of the plurality communicated to a different provider corresponding thereto.

12. The method of claim 7 further comprising, separating the request from the management application into a plurality of separate requests, each separate request of the plurality communicated to a different provider corresponding thereto.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising, receiving a result for each separate request and aggregating each result received into an aggregated result.

14. A computer-readable storage medium having stored computer-executable instructions for performing the method of claim 7.

15. A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a data structure that represents a managed device, comprising:

a first data field including data representative of static information corresponding to the managed device;

a second data field including data representative of dynamic data information corresponding to the managed device; and

wherein the first and second data fields are filled in with data in response to a single request from a management application to an object manager seeking management information about the managed device, wherein the object manager queries a database and receives data therefrom indicative of which information provider or providers correspond to the managed device, the object manager filling in the data in the first field by communicating with a source of the static data, and filling in the data in the second field by communicating with a dynamic data provider that is associated with the managed device wherein communicating with the dynamic data provider comprises;

communicating the request to the dynamic data provider to request the dynamic data information of the selected network object;

determining a capability of the dynamic data provider based on a response from the dynamic data provider;

upon determining that, based on the response, the dynamic data provider cannot handle the request, simplifying the request;

communicating the simplified request to the dynamic data provider;

the dynamic data provider, in response to the simplified request, obtaining and returning the dynamic data information of the selected network object.