DMTF Releases SMASH 1.0 Specifications

Leading Standards Body Delivers Its Comprehensive Framework for Server Management

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – December 4, 2006 – The Distributed Management Task Force, Inc. (DMTF®), the industry organization leading the development, adoption and promotion of interoperable management initiatives and standards, today announced the public release of its Systems Management Architecture for Server Hardware (SMASH) Implementation Requirements Specification and the SMASH Server Management (SM) CLP-to-CIM Mapping Specification, which – along with the widely used SM Command Line Protocol (CLP) and SM Managed Element Addressing specifications – complete the DMTF’s SMASH 1.0 total server management solution. As of today, the entire SMASH 1.0 suite of specifications is available, helping users lower costs by enabling simple and intuitive management of heterogeneous servers in the data center – independent of machine state, operating system state, server system topology or access method.

Providing a set of specifications that deliver architectural semantics, industry standard protocols and profiles to unify the management of the data center, SMASH 1.0 facilitates local and remote management of server hardware in both Out-of-Service and Out-of-Band management environments. The SMASH Implementation Requirements Specification, released today, defines how to utilize these standards to deliver a comprehensive solution for server management. SMASH 1.0 also includes:

• The SM CLP specification – reduces management complexity by delivering a human-oriented interface that provides a uniform command set for controlling hardware in heterogeneous environments. Broadly implemented in the industry, the SM CLP allows users to execute common operations – such as system power on and off, system log display, boot order configuration and text-based remote console – using the same commands across disparate vendor platforms. In addition to these immediate benefits, the SMASH SM CLP also enables the development of common scripts to increase data center automation, which can help to significantly reduce management costs.
• SM Managed Element Addressing Specification – provides a user-friendly way to tap into the power of the DMTF’s widely implemented Common Information Model (CIM) standard. By defining easier and shorter “tags” for accessing CIM on the server, the SM Managed Element Addressing provides users with a “shorthand” method for addressing the more descriptive CIM object names (known as classes and instances within CIM).
• SM CLP-to-CIM Mapping Specification – also released today, this specification describes the common requirements for the mapping of SM CLP commands to elements of CIM.
• Server Management Profiles – DMTF Profiles provide a template to address specific management domains, helping with ease of use and offering a simplified means to achieve interoperable distributed management. The SMASH Implementation Requirements Specification identifies how Profiles should be used in a SMASH solution.

“The SMASH Implementation Requirements Specification is the final critical piece of SMASH 1.0, providing a comprehensive framework for server management that delivers renewed simplicity to this critical pain point in the data center,” said Winston Bumpus, president, DMTF. “SMASH 1.0 enables vendor-independent, platform-neutral server management, which empowers customers to realize increased efficiencies, reduced costs and fewer training requirements as a result.”

The DMTF’s SMASH Implementation Requirements Specification, Version 1.0, is available for download here. For more information on the SMASH Initiative and server management, visit the DMTF Web site at http://www.dmtf.org/standards/smash. To participate in the DMTF’s SMASH Forum, which helps ensure that consumers of SMASH-based server management standards – both end users and the ISV community – receive interoperable management technology for multi-vendor server systems, visit http://www.dmtf.org/interoperability/SMASH_Forum/.

Industry Support for SMASH 1.0
Broadcom
“The DMTF’s SMASH 1.0 offers significant benefits to server OEMs and to system administrators managing servers. We believe it will become a core management technology because it further standardizes how the Network Interface Card (NIC) addresses out-of-band manageability challenges and uses DMTF’s standard CIM schema profiles and improved wire protocol security,” said Greg Young, vice president and general manager of Broadcom’s High-Speed Controller line of business. “Managing servers that rely on NIC support – in a secure way that utilizes standard tools and profiles – is critically important to system administrators.”

Dell
“Dell is committed to helping customers simplify data center management by reducing the number of tools needed to manage hardware and software. Standards-based hardware, like Dell’s PowerEdge™ server line, and standards-based management tools like the DMTF’s SMASH 1.0 specifications are critical ingredients in enabling that vision,” said Subo Guha, director, Dell enterprise software.

Hitachi
“The completion of the SMASH 1.0 specifications launches a new era of interoperable server management,” said Masahiro Kitano, executive general manager, Enterprise Server Division, Hitachi, Ltd. “We will support SMASH in future product offerings of Hitachi’s ‘Harmonious Computing’ service platform to provide our customers unified and effective server management in their data centers. Hitachi is also strongly supporting the activities of the SMASH Forum to ensure SMASH interoperability.”

HP
“The DMTF’s SMASH 1.0 specifications are a significant milestone for the industry and our customers,” said Dwight Barron, chief technologist, HP BladeSystem. “As an infrastructure management leader and contributor to DMTF standards, HP will support SMASH across the Adaptive Infrastructure portfolio, including the Integrated Lights-Out Processor, HP Systems Insight Manager, and Essentials software. SMASH enables standards-based, multi-vendor server management and HP believes its broad adoption will lower operational cost, increase quality of service and ultimately deliver superior business value for customers.”

IBM
“As a founder and co-chair of the DMTF Server Management Working Group, we are looking forward to its increased role in server management interoperability for our customers,” said Dr. Tom Bradicich, IBM Fellow and Systems CTO. “By providing a comprehensive framework for server management, the new SMASH 1.0 enables greater efficiency and simplicity on which to build proven IBM enterprise capability into our open, industry standard server line.”

Symantec
“The interoperable, secure and functionally rich management of multi-vendor server hardware is paramount to Symantec corporation as an industry leader in providing platform agnostic enterprise security, protection, and integrity solutions,” said Mark Bregman, executive vice president, chief technology officer, Symantec. “The DMTF’s SMASH 1.0 plays a critical role in moving the industry to this vision and we aggressively support the DMTF in providing a comprehensive framework for interoperable server management through this specification and the new SMASH Forum.”

WBEM Solutions
“SMASH 1.0 is another milestone for the DMTF, the SMASH Forum, and the whole IT industry by aiding and simplifying server management interoperability. WBEM Solutions plans to add support for the SMASH specifications to our products,” said Troy Biegger, vice president marketing and sales, WBEM Solutions. “In addition to our support of existing DMTF initiatives and specifications, adding support for SMASH 1.0 will increase our product offerings which ultimately help solve our customers need for simplified, standards based management.”

More industry support for the DMTF’s SMASH 1.0 – from companies and organizations including AMD, Avocent and Raritan – can be found here.

About the DMTF
With more than 3,500 active participants representing 39 countries and nearly 200 organizations, the Distributed Management Task Force, Inc. (DMTF) is the industry organization leading the development, adoption and promotion of interoperable management initiatives and standards. DMTF management technologies include the Common Diagnostic Model (CDM) initiative, the Systems Management Architecture for Server Hardware (SMASH) initiative, Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) – including protocols such as CIM-XML and Web Services for Management (WS-Management) - which are all based on the Common Information Model (CIM). Information about the DMTF technologies and activities can be found www.dmtf.org.

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