management architecture

A management architecture is a collection of standards aimed at implementing integrated management of computer systems and networks. A management architecture can be divided into four main fields:

• Information model: A standard for representing managed objects, some kind of IDL and a standardization of the MIB.
• Communication model: A specification of a communication protocol and forms of communication (whether or not there is, for example, a management hierarchy).
• Function model: A formalization of capabilities that the managed system has, and how they can be influenced by the management. See FCAPS.
• Organization model: A way to model divisions of the managed system in order to achieve management scalability. Divisions can be according to network topology, physical location and corporate structures.

The most widely spread management architecture is the "Internet management" architecture. Its information model is the standardized Internet MIB, its communication model is SNMP and it doesn't have standardized function or organization models.

Other, more fully-featured but less ubiquitous management architectures are the ITU's TMN, the ISO's CMIP architecture and the OMG's CORBA management.