Introduction to Networking for NonStop S-Series Servers

Managing Communications Subsystems
Introduction to Networking for HP NonStop S-Series Servers—520670-005
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Management Model
Management Model
One of the most important characteristics HP communications products share is a
management model—the approach taken and the mechanisms used to support such
tasks as resource control and inquiry and fault management. This uniform approach
makes it possible for you to use the same tools to manage many different products.
Distributed Systems Management (DSM)
The name DSM applies to the management model and also to a set of products
consistent with that model. DSM products provide centralized or distributed
management of HP NonStop S-series servers and Expand networks. DSM also lets
you build interfaces that allow your applications to be managed as subsystems in the
DSM environment.
DSM provides you with the following benefits:
•
Integration of the network, the systems, and your own applications
•
Automation of operator functions
•
Distribution or centralization of network control
DSM is not used exclusively for managing communications. You can use DSM tools to
manage most other HP hardware and software—such as processors, peripherals, the
HP NonStop Kernel operating system, and the Transaction Management Facility (TMF)
subsystem—and your own applications.
Subsystems
An important concept in DSM is that of the subsystem. A subsystem is a process or
collection of processes giving users access to a set of related functions. A subsystem
typically controls a cohesive set of resources. For example, X.25 Access Method
(X25AM) is a subsystem that controls X.25 lines and related entities, such as virtual
circuits; the TMF subsystem controls application transactions and related entities, such
as audit-trail files.
DSM tools and interfaces let you operate on subsystems individually, allowing you a
fineness of control that is often desirable, and supporting the distribution of operations
functions among operators specializing in particular aspects of the system or network.
For instance, one person might be responsible for managing the communications lines,
lines of a particular type, or lines within a specific geographic section of the network.
Several DSM tools also let you operate on subsystems collectively; this capability is
important in cases where you want a broad view of resource usage or are trying to
locate a problem and don’t know in which subsystem it occurred. (As described in
Section 2, Communications Product Concepts and Components, most applications use
the services of multiple subsystems, even if they are using just one subsystem
directly.)