Sidebar: Vendors Push SMASH Protocol for Managing Servers

Computerworld - PHILADELPHIA -- Data center managers got their first real taste of an emerging server management protocol at Enterprise Management World. And judging by their initial impressions, Systems Management Architecture for Server Hardware was a smash hit.
SMASH is a proposed command-line protocol that is built on top of the Distributed Management Task Force's Common Information Model and backed by the DMTF and major server vendors. A draft version of the protocol was announced last December and supports a variety of functions, including the use of a common language for technologies and processes related to server management operations.
For example, some server makers refer to the chips inside their hardware as CPUs, while others call them processors. SMASH can be used to develop a set of agreed-upon terms, according to DMTF officials.
It can also be used to set up a common interface for managing servers in branch offices and other remote locations where IT personnel may not be present.
In addition, SMASH enables IT managers to remotely power on or shut down servers that are connected to their corporate networks.
James Nawa, manager of IT infrastructure at Carpenter Technology Corp. in Reading, Pa., said products based on the protocol would be a welcome addition at his company's 30 global locations. Sometimes the only person available to turn servers on or off in some of the facilities is a secretary or a sales manager. "We have a need for it," Nawa said, referring to SMASH.
Management Functions
Systems administrators will be able to use SMASH to write scripts that provide basic management functions across servers from different vendors, said John Humphreys, an enterprise computing analyst at IDC. "It's a great thing for distributed computing," he said.
Hewlett-Packard Co., Intel Corp. and Dell Inc. all demonstrated working versions of the protocol for conference attendees. Lee Johns, director of software for the global business unit at HP, predicted a "rapid adoption" by vendors.
Winston Bumpus, president of the Portland, Ore.-based DMTF, said vendors are "firmly behind" SMASH. The protocol should become especially useful to IT managers as they implement emerging technologies such as grid and utility computing systems, he added.
Vendors wouldn't comment on when SMASH-based management tools are likely to hit the market. But a DMTF spokeswoman said the protocol is expected to be ratified within a year.