Corporate.Net The Dawning Of The Age Of Java Management By Bruce Boardman   Network management has taken a long road to its current state. First there was the Simple Network Manage-ment Protocol (SNMP) version 1, then Management Information Bases (MIB) I and II and Remote Monitoring (RMON) I and II were developed. Along the way came maps, blinking icons, distributed databases and tons of GUIs. Now a new age of network management is dawning--one based on Java--and its development is quickening. The pressure to get Java-enabled applications out the door is so great that new products are emerging before previous versions are out of beta. Sun Microsystems is pushing Java as the light of our management lives. And through the dawn's mist, Java managem ent is beginning to take shape. But it is too early to declare its usefulness--no matter how many cups of coffee you've had. The creation story for Web-enabled network management is still evolving. The best place to start is to lo ok at where Java isn't. The first Web-enabled network management apps were simple markups of reports to HTML, with indexes thrown in for good measure. A more recent approach is to include an HTTP server within devices. This allows browser-based management a la telnet. Bay Networks, Cisco and 3Com Corp. now include HTTP servers in their routers and switches. Finally, Microsoft Corp. has proposed--and the Desktop Management Task Force (DMTF) has picked up--the Hyper Media Management Protocol (HMMP) and Hyper Media Management Schema (HMMS), which are referred to as Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM). This is not a Java initiative. Yet, if the vendors supporting WBEM are to be believed, Java and WBEM are not competing schemes. WBEM focuses primarily on a management protocol that works with Web browsers, while Java is a protocol-agnostic programming language. Among the WBEM backers are Microsoft, Computer Associates International, Compaq Computer Corp., Cisco, Intel Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. and 3Com. No WBEM products are shipping yet, though a software developer's kit (SDK) is scheduled for the third quarter of this year. When finished, WBEM will be a hierarchical schema that will correlate events across multiple devices. The beauty of this correlation is that the data sources can be any WBEM-compliant device or application. This correlation will then be transmitted via HMMP to any awaiting browser. JMAPI Like WBEM, the Java Management Application Programming Interface (JMAPI) has a significant and growing list of supporters--including Bay, Cisco, IBM, Novell, PLATINUM technologies, Sun and 3Com. A beta version of Sun's Solstice Workshop 1.0 (a management SDK) include s support for JMAPI, and it is the only Java SDK that claims JMAPI compliance. Everyone with a Java network management application is claiming JMAPI compliance. JMAPI is a set of guidelines and Java classes designed specifically for Java network management. The grand plan is to normalize development and usage, so that both pay back dividends more quickly. Although not a protocol, the current version of JMAPI includes a mapping to SNMP. This is a big win in that existing SNMP-enabled devices can be managed by JMAPI-compliant applications. To avoid the appearance of a strict SNMP approach, Sun is quick to add that other mappings to the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA), Common Management Information Protocol (CMIP) and perhaps HTTP are possible with JMAPI.

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