About the Common Information Model

The Common Information Model (CIM), developed by the DMTF, is an industry standard used to manage systems and networks. This standard provides a common conceptual framework that classifies and defines the parts of a networked environment, and depicts how these various parts interact. The CIM captures notions that are applicable to all areas of management, independent of technology implementation.

CIM consists of the following components:

• CIM Specification – Defines the language and methodology for integration with other management models.

• CIM Schema – Provides the actual model descriptions for systems, applications, local area networks, and devices. The CIM schema consists of the following models:

  • Core Model – Provides the underlying, general assumptions of the managed environment. This model comprises a small set of classes and associations that provide a basic vocabulary for analyzing and describing managed systems.

  • Common Model – Captures notions that are common to particular management areas, but which are independent of a particular technology or a particular implementation. Provides a basis for the development of management applications.

• Extension schema – Represents technology and platform-specific extensions to the Common Model. These schemas are specific to environments such as operating systems. For example, the Solaris schema is an extension schema. Vendors extend the model for their products by creating subclasses of objects. Applications can then transverse object instances in the standard model to manage different products in a heterogeneous environment.