SMI-S providers

SMI-S providers enable communication between storage devices, such as storage systems and fabric switches, and IBM Spectrum® Control. Each storage device that you want to manage must have an SMI-S provider either installed or embedded unless it is a device that uses Native API connection.

SMI-S providers are provided by the vendor of the storage subsystem or fabric switch. Each vendor provides unique agent code for their family of storage devices. This code implements a Common Information Model Object Manager (CIMOM) that conforms to the Storage Management Initiative Specification (SMI-S) of the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA).

The SMI-S provider enables communication between the storage device and IBM Spectrum Control. Commands and responses are transmitted between IBM Spectrum Control and the SMI-S provider using an XML transport layer. The SMI-S provider to storage device layer uses a vendor-specific proprietary interface.

The SMI-S provider usually must be installed and configured, so that it can identify the storage devices with which it communicates. Some storage devices, such as fabric switches, contain embedded SMI-S providers and so do not require that SMI-S providers be installed. In these cases, IBM Spectrum Control must be configured to point directly to the storage devices that contain the embedded SMI-S providers.

SMI-S providers can be referred to as CIM agents, CIM proxy agents, and CIMOM agents. SMI-S providers can be embedded in the device or installed on a separate computer.