Method and apparatus for facilitating communication between a managed system and management systems

1. A method for generating a protocol agent for a managed system, comprising:

using a processor for:

obtaining a protocol specification comprising a plurality of first mappings to an information model specification; and

generating the protocol agent using the protocol specification, wherein the protocol agent comprises a plurality of second mappings to an implementation of a unified information model generated using the information model specification, wherein the second mappings are formed using the first mappings.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the implementation of the unified information model is generated by processing the information model specification using an information model converter.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the protocol agent comprises:

selecting a protocol converter according to a protocol associated with the protocol specification; and

processing the protocol specification using the selected protocol converter to form thereby the protocol agent.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the protocol specification comprises a model of a protocol, wherein the implementation of the unified information model comprises a model of hardware of the managed system.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the implementation of the unified information model comprises a plurality of logical entities, wherein the logical entities represent a plurality of physical entities of the managed system.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the protocol agent comprises a plurality of protocol entities.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the implementation of the unified information model comprises a plurality of logical entities, wherein the protocol agent comprises a plurality of protocol entities, wherein the second mappings comprise mappings between the logical entities and the protocol entities.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first mappings comprise reference mappings and the second mappings comprise use mappings.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

obtaining-another protocol specification comprising another plurality of first mappings to the information model specification; and

generating another protocol agent using the other protocol specification, wherein the other protocol agent comprises another plurality of second mappings to the implementation of the unified information model, wherein the other second mappings are formed using the other first mappings.

10. An apparatus for generating a protocol agent for a managed system, comprising:

a processor configured for generating the protocol agent using a protocol specification, wherein the protocol specification comprises a plurality of first mappings to an information model specification, wherein the protocol agent comprises a plurality of second mappings to an implementation of a unified information model, wherein the implementation of the unified information model is generated using the information model specification, wherein the second mappings are formed using the first mappings.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the processor is configured for generating the implementation of the unified information model using the information model specification.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the protocol specification comprises a model of a protocol, wherein the information model specification comprises a model of hardware of the managed system.

13. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the implementation of the unified information model comprises a plurality of logical entities, wherein the logical entities represent a plurality of physical entities of the managed system.

14. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the protocol agent comprises a plurality of protocol entities.

15. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the implementation of the unified information model comprises a plurality of logical entities, wherein the protocol agent comprises a plurality of protocol entities, wherein the second mappings comprise mappings between the logical entities and the protocol entities.

16. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the first mappings comprise reference mappings and the second mappings comprise use mappings.

17. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the processor is configured for generating another protocol agent using another protocol specification, wherein the other protocol specification comprises another plurality of first mappings to the information model specification, wherein the other protocol agent comprises another plurality of second mappings to the implementation of the unified information model, wherein the other second mappings are formed using the other first mappings.

18. A method for generating a protocol agent for a managed system, comprising:

using a processor for:

generating an implementation of a unified information model from an information model specification; and

generating the protocol agent from a protocol specification;

wherein the protocol specification comprises a plurality of first mappings to the information model specification, wherein the protocol agent comprises a plurality of second mappings to the implementation of the unified information model, wherein the second mappings are formed using the first mappings.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein generating the implementation of the unified information model comprises:

obtaining the information model specification, wherein the information model specification comprises a model of hardware of the managed system; and

generating the implementation of the unified information model by processing the information model specification using an information model converter, wherein the implementation of the unified information model comprises a plurality of logical entities, wherein the logical entities represent a plurality of physical entities of the managed system.

20. The method of claim 18 , wherein generating the protocol agent comprises:

obtaining the protocol specification, wherein the protocol specification comprises a model of a protocol; and

generating the protocol agent by processing the protocol specification using a protocol converter, wherein the protocol agent comprises a plurality of protocol entities.