Integrating the OSI and the Distributed Objects Architectures for Systems Management

In the ESPRIT II project SysMan, the EPFL was in charge of integrating the OSI and the distributed objects technologies for systems management. We worked on the specification translation between IDL and GDMO (in both directions), and on the provision of gateways. Adapter-agents allow distributed applications to be managed in OSI. Conversely, proxy-agents enable OSI managed objects to be accessed as ordinary distributed objects. Our work in SysMan convinced us that the OSI systems management architecture is not fully adequate in a distributed objects world. When integrating the worlds of distributed objects and OSI, we need to revisit the features of OSI rather than to blindly adopt them.