<title>Using the unified modeling language (UML) to design Jiro technology dynamic services</title>

Abstract

ABSTRACT Jiro™ Technology is an implementation of the Management Architecture developed by Sun MicrosystemsIncorporated (SMI). It defines middleware to support the development of distributed system management applications.Since it has not yet gained the widespread popularityof other Java ™ technologies there has been little published discussionof how architects and designers can take advantage of the specialized features it offers. In this paper, some of those keyfeatures are examined with respect to using the Unified Modeling Language (UML) during the development process.Keywords: Unified Modeling Language, Management Architecture, Jiro™ Technology, components, componentdesign, system management. 1. INTRODUCTION TO THE FEDERATED MANAGEMENT ARCHITECTURE The Unified Modeling Language (UML) has become the most widely adopted software design language and so really needsno introduction. This section will focus on Jiro™ Technologysince it is most likelyto be newto the reader.The Management Architecture[1] (FMA) has its roots in members of the storage communitywho wanted a betterway to build management applications and have their devices managed in ways other than through the comparatively low-level interfaces offered by the Simple Network Management Protocol[2] (SNMP) or even the Common InformationModel[3] (CIM) and its Web Based Enterprise Management[4] (WBEM) interfaces.The FMA specification defines the Java™[5] programming language interfaces to a service-based middle tier of a 3-tieredarchitecture for system management applications. The vision then being that service providers from multiple sources couldwork together with standards-based interfaces to offer a higher degree of flexibility and inter-operation with managementapplications than had been previously achieved. Additionally, device vendors could enable their devices to be managed bymodern management applications through the provision of a standards-based Java interface.The FMA specification was among the first outputs of the Java Standardization Process (JSP) in recognition of the supportand level of agreement it achieved especiallyin the storage community. SMI offered the first reference implementation andthe first commercial product implementing the FMA specification. It is called Jiro Technology[6] and, as of the time ofwriting, remains the only available implementation. This paper takes all of its examples from that implementation.However, to avoid excessive use of an SMI trademarked term, the more general term, Federated ManagementArchitecture (FMA), is used henceforth.1.1 Relationship of FMA services to based software engineeringThis section addresses the commonly asked question of whether an FMA service can be accurately be thought of as asoftware in the senses used in publications such as [7-10].The FMA is neither domain specific nor is it designed to be a general distributed technology. It is specific tomiddleware for building management applications. That is, the central part of an N-tier architecture found in the nextgeneration of system management applications. The next generation will move away from their current monitoring-onlylimitations imposed by their simplistic client-server architecture to take advantage of middleware such as FMAimplementations.Despite lacking the design goal of general component-based middleware, it has many conceptual similarities with the workon components as expressed in [7-10]. The reason that the term component is generally avoided in descriptions of theFMA is to lessen the potential for confusion with that term being used in other Java-based technologies such as JavaFoundation Classes (including Swing), JavaBeans™, and Enterprise Java Beans ™ (EJB). An FMA service is none of theseas will be discussed in the next section.