OMI is an open source project to further the development of a production quality implementation of the DMTF CIM/WBEM standards. OMI is also designed to be inherently portable. It builds and runs today on most versions of UNIX(r) and Linux. In addition to OMI's small footprint, it also demonstrates very high performance.
OMI's primary goal is to provide a rich, high-performance, standards-based management stack that is suitable for a wide range of management applications. This includes cloud management, storage management, server hardware management, device management, and network management, on both large and small systems (embedded and mobility). To support this goal, OMI implements DMTF CIM/WBEM standards with the following characteristics:
- A very small footprint
- A provider generator model which makes the task of creating providers very easy
- High portability to a wide variety of hardware and software
- High performance
- Support for WS-Management
The availability of OMI means that we can now easily compile and implement a standards-based management service into any device or platform from a free open-source package. The goals are to remove all obstacles that stand in the way of implementing standards-based management so that every device in the world can be managed in a clear, consistent, coherent way and to nurture spur a rich ecosystem of standards-based management products.
In addition, the growth of cloud-based computing is driving demand for more automation, which, in turn, will require the existence of a solid foundation built upon management standards. For standards-based management to satisfy today’s cloud management demands, it must be sophisticated enough to support the diverse set of devices that are required and it must be easy to implement by hardware and platform vendors alike. The DMTF CIM and WSMAN standards are up to the task, but implementing them effectively has been a challenge. Open Management Infrastructure (OMI) addresses this problem.
Background context (History)
- WMI was first introduced in Windows NT 4.0.
- WMI used DCOM for remote management.
- In Windows Server 20212, Microsoft synching WMI with DMTF standards and protocols.
- Microsoft works with The Open Group to built a highly portable, small footprint, high performance CIM Object Manager called OMI.
Acronyms:
- OMI - Open Management Infrastructure
- CIM - Common Information Model
- DMTF - Distributed Management Task Force
- WBEM - Web-Based Enterprise Management
- WMI - Windows Management Infrastructure