Five cyberspace heavyweights are teaming to back a Web services management specification aimed at making network administration simpler for numerous devices including TiVo-like digital video recorders.
Microsoft, Intel, Advanced Micro Devices, Dell, and Sun Microsystems announced October 8 that they would introduce the specification this week during a Distributed Management Task Force meeting, though they also said they haven't picked which standards group would get their finished spec for review.
The fivesome call the Web Services Management specification a technical blueprint they want to see become an industry standard, which will let network managers "poll" networked devices to see if they're working and to handle possible problems.
Analysts say WS-Management combined with other specifications could, potentially, manage devices like set-top boxes, TiVo-like digital video recorders, and o thers, with service providers, cable companies, and hardware makers using the spec to configure and update consumer products remotely for new services.
The idea behind Web services is thwarting hardware crashes and helping system administrators repair problems, but the writers of WS-Management are believed to have decided a new way to track devices was needed, according to Microsoft Windows marketing director David Hamilton.
"There are reasonable management solutions to manage data centers, but they are inadequate when it comes to new form factors like blade servers and wireless devices," he told reporters.
The plan is for Microsoft to build support for WS-Management into a Windows Server update due late in 2005 and in Microsoft Operations Manager due in 2006. Intel would build support for Web services management into chip sets and firmware, though they haven't yet stated a specific timeframe for doing it according to Intel marketing director Lorie Wigle.
The WS-Management players also said there is a little overlap with Web Services Distributed Management but with significant differences, including WS-DM tracking Web services applications and being meant to manage devices using other protocols still under development. But the WS-Management players also said they hope to work with those companies working WS-DM, including Hewlett-Packard, IBM, and Computer Associates. Sun and Dell are also WS-DM working group members.
