DMTF Releases Breakthrough Server Management Standard to the Public; SMASH Command Line Protocol Delivers Unprecedented Simplicity for Server Management Across Diverse IT Environments.

PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Distributed Management Task Force, Inc. (DMTF(R)), the industry organization leading the development of management standards and integration technology for enterprise and Internet environments, today announced the public release of its Systems Management Architecture for Server Hardware (SMASH) Command Line Protocol (CLP) specification, which enables simple and intuitive management of heterogeneous servers in the data center. The SMASH CLP specification addresses the end user requirement for a common command line syntax, allowing systems offered by different vendors to be managed in similar ways.

The SMASH CLP builds on the DMTF's Common Information Model (CIM) Schema, leveraging the richness of this widely implemented information model. Enabling remote as well as local management of server hardware in both Out-of-Service and Out-of-Band management environments, the SMASH CLP delivers server management capabilities independent of machine state, operating system state, server system topology or access method.

"End users have long desired the ability to have a common set of commands to manage server hardware from a variety of vendors," said Winston Bumpus, president, DMTF. "This need can now be met thanks to the widely-supported SMASH CLP. With important initiatives like grid and utility computing underway at many end user organizations, server management continues to be a top IT issue in the data center and throughout the enterprise. By enabling vendor-independent, platform neutral server management, customers will realize increased efficiencies, reduced costs and fewer training requirements as a result of the SMASH CLP."

"The members of the NAC -- a consortium of IT user organizations representing combined revenues of over $800 billion -- deal with the challenges of server management in the data center on a daily basis," said Fred Wettling, Chairman, Network Applications Consortium (NAC) and Technology Strategy Manager for Bechtel Corporation. "The SMASH CLP delivers key benefits for standards-based management interoperability in the data center, and SMASH CLP support will be a 'must have' server purchasing requirement for many large NAC enterprises."

The DMTF is releasing the SMASH CLP specification to the public for comment and implementation experience before it is released in its final form later this year. The SMASH CLP is the first to be released of the DMTF's SMASH suite of specifications, which also includes SMASH Managed Element Addressing, SMASH CLP-to-CIM Mapping, SMASH CLP Discovery, SMASH Profiles, as well as a SMASH Architecture White Paper.

The DMTF's SMASH CLP is available for download at http://www.dmtf.org/standards/smash/DSP0214.pdf. For more information on SMASH and server management, visit the DMTF Web site at http://www.dmtf.org/standards/smash.

Industry Support for the SMASH CLP

Dell

"Dell has been a consistent leader in driving industry standards to deliver increased value and simplified operations for our customers," said Pete Morowski, vice president of software for Dell Product Group. "The DMTF SMASH CLP standard is expected to become an integral technology in Dell's OpenManage systems management software, enabling our customers to more easily and cost-effectively manage systems in their data centers."

Hitachi Ltd.

"Hitachi is very pleased with the release of the DMTF's SMASH CLP, which provides comprehensive and simple server management in heterogeneous environments," said Takao Nakamura, executive general manager, Software Division, Hitachi Ltd. "This standard is coherent with and will form a part of Hitachi's 'Harmonious Computing' service platform concept. We will begin incorporating this standard into products which embody 'Harmonious Computing' immediately."

HP

"HP enthusiastically supports the emerging SMASH CLP standard," said James Mouton, HP vice president of Industry Standard Servers. "We have already implemented a CLP preview on HP ProLiant 300 and 500 series servers and HP BladeSystem blade servers through Integrated Lights-Out, and we look forward to further implementation as the DMTF continues to release updates. The SMASH CLP uniform command set provides our customers operational cost reduction as a result of consistent server management and increased automation."

IBM 

"As one of the founders and co-chairs of the DMTF Server Management Working Group, IBM is excited about supporting the advanced capabilities of the SMASH CLP in the IBM eServer xSeries and BladeCenter product lines," said Dr. Tom Bradicich, chief technology officer, xSeries and BladeCenter, IBM Systems and Technology Group. "SMASH is a great complement to IBM Director and our other industry-leading systems management tools, and will help our customers simplify server management in the heterogeneous data center."

Intel Corporation

"As part of our goal of leading in the development of improvements to the management of enterprise systems, Intel is committed to the creation and delivery of the SMASH CLP specification," says Steve Pawlowski, senior fellow, Intel Corporation. "SMASH provides a critical step in delivering consistent management to meet the diverse needs of today's data centers. Our ongoing leadership in the DMTF and planned product deployments for SMASH realize these commitments."

Sun Microsystems

"Sun has always remained focused on simplifying and reducing the cost of data center management for its customers -- especially those working in heterogeneous computing environments where interoperability is key," said David Lawler, director, Product Definition & Strategy, Sun Microsystems, Inc. "Sun looks forward to supporting the DMTF's SMASH CLP industry standard in future product offerings."

More industry support for the DMTF's SMASH CLP -- from companies and organizations including Avocent, The Open Group, Peppercon, RLX Technologies and the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) -- can be found on the DMTF's Web site at http://www.dmtf.org/newsroom/releases/2005_06_07/ smash_clp_quotesheet.pdf. (Due to its length, this URL may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address field. Remove the extra space if one exists.)

About the DMTF

With more than 3,000 active participants, the Distributed Management Task Force, Inc. (DMTF) is the industry organization leading the development of management standards and integration technology for enterprise and Internet environments. DMTF standards provide common management infrastructure components for instrumentation, control and communication in a platform-independent and technology neutral way. DMTF technologies include the Common Information Model (CIM), communication/control protocols like the Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) initiative, and core management services/utilities. The DMTF and Computerworld are co-owners of Enterprise Management World, the only IT management conference exclusively focused on distributed management technologies for the data center and communications infrastructure. Information about DMTF's standards and activities can be found at www.dmtf.org.