HP 3PAR InForm OS 3.1.1 Concepts Guide

15 The HP 3PAR InForm OS CIM API
Overview
This chapter describes the HP 3PAR InForm OS CIM Application Programming Interface (API), HP’s
industry-standard API based on SNIA’s Storage Management Initiative Specification (SMI-S). For
detailed information about the HP 3PAR InForm OS CIM API, refer to the HP 3PAR CIM API
Programming Reference.
CAUTION: The CIM API is not part of the evaluated Common Criteria storage system configuration
and should not be used when operating in Common Criteria mode. For more information about
Common Criteria, see the HP 3PAR InForm OS Common Criteria Administrator’s Reference.
About SMI-S
SMI-S enables management of storage area networks (SANs) in a heterogeneous multi-vendor
environment. SMI-S uses an object-oriented model based on the Common Information Model (CIM)
to define objects and services which comprise a SAN. By leveraging vendor and technology
independent standards, SMI-S allows management application vendors to create applications that
work across products from multiple vendors.
The SMI-S model is divided into several profiles, each of which describes a particular class of SAN
entities (such as disk arrays). These profiles allow for differences in implementations but provide
a consistent approach for clients to discover and manage SAN resources and facilitate
interoperability across vendor products within the SAN.
SMI-S also defines an automated resource discovery process using Service Location Protocol version
2 (SLPv2). This allows management applications to automatically find SAN resources and then
probe them to determine which of the SMI-S profiles and features they support.
For more information about SMI-S, refer to the Storage Management Initiative web site at http://
www.snia.org/smi/home.
About the WBEM Initiative
SMI-S is based on the Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) Initiative, which is defined by
the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF). WBEM is a set of management and Internet
standard technologies developed to unify the management of distributed computing environments.
The DMTF has developed a core set of standards that make up WBEM:
• The Common Information Model (CIM) standard
The CIM standard is the data model for WBEM. CIM provides a conceptual framework for
describing management data for systems, networks, applications and services, and allows for
vendor extensions. SMI-S uses CIM to model those objects and relationships that comprise a SAN.
• CIM-XML
CIM-XML is a method of exchanging CIM management data. CIM-XML uses an xmlCIM payload
and HTTP(s) as the transport mechanism.
72 The HP 3PAR InForm OS CIM API