An object-oriented approach to the implementation of OSI management

Despite the advantages offered by the generality of its model, the effort put into its definition by the standardization bodies and the support of government organizations, OSI management is still far from reaching a predominant stand in the market of network and systems management. Proprietary architectures, products and, especially in the United States, SNMP are still the preferred solutions for many users. One of the main obstacles to the wide adoption of OSI management is the supposed difficulty of its implementation. This article will attempt to show that such complexity can be resolved if the proper tools are chosen and if the intrinsic object-oriented features of OSI management are exploited. The design and implementation of an OSI management library is described. It will be shown that a library implementation is feasible and can suitably exploit the object-oriented structure of the management information: the definition of automatic tools for the implementation of new managed object classes is also covered. Finally, implications related to the handling of extension of the managed object class behaviour are identified. Familiarity with OSI management, object-oriented terminology and C+ +, though not strictly required, is certainly useful. © 1995.