IBM Director
Encyclopedia
IBM Director is an element management system
(EMS) (sometimes referred to as a "workgroup management system") first introduced by IBM
in 1993 as NetFinity Manager. The software was originally written to run on OS/2
2.0. It has subsequently gone through a number of name changes in the interim. It was changed in 1996 to IBM PC SystemView. Later that same year, it was renamed to TME 10 NetFinity. The following year, it reverted to a slightly altered version of its original name: IBM Netfinity Manager (note the lowercase 'f').
In 1999, IBM announced Netfinity Director; a new product based on Tivoli IT Director. It was intended as a replacement for IBM Netfinity Manager. When IBM renamed its Netfinity line of enterprise servers to xSeries
, the name was changed to IBM Director.
With the release of version 6.1, the product was renamed from IBM Director to IBM Systems Director.
IBM Director consists of 3 components: an agent, a console and a server. To take full advantage of IBM Director's capabilities, the IBM Director Agent must be installed on the monitored system. Inventory and management data are stored in an SQL
database (Oracle
, SQL Server
, IBM DB2
Universal Database or PostgreSQL
) which can be separate or on the same server where IBM Director Server
resides. Smaller deployments can also utilize Microsoft's Jet
or MSDE
. The server is configured and managed using the IBM Director Console from any Linux
or Microsoft Windows
workstation.
Element management system
An element management system consists of systems and applications for managing network elements on the network element management layer of the Telecommunications Management Network model....
(EMS) (sometimes referred to as a "workgroup management system") first introduced by IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
in 1993 as NetFinity Manager. The software was originally written to run on OS/2
OS/2
OS/2 is a computer operating system, initially created by Microsoft and IBM, then later developed by IBM exclusively. The name stands for "Operating System/2," because it was introduced as part of the same generation change release as IBM's "Personal System/2 " line of second-generation personal...
2.0. It has subsequently gone through a number of name changes in the interim. It was changed in 1996 to IBM PC SystemView. Later that same year, it was renamed to TME 10 NetFinity. The following year, it reverted to a slightly altered version of its original name: IBM Netfinity Manager (note the lowercase 'f').
In 1999, IBM announced Netfinity Director; a new product based on Tivoli IT Director. It was intended as a replacement for IBM Netfinity Manager. When IBM renamed its Netfinity line of enterprise servers to xSeries
Xseries
Xseries or xSeries may refer to:* Nokia Xseries, a family of mobile phones.* IBM System x, previously eServer xSeries.* X-Series, a mobile broadband offering from 3.* X , a space combat and trading video game series....
, the name was changed to IBM Director.
With the release of version 6.1, the product was renamed from IBM Director to IBM Systems Director.
IBM Director consists of 3 components: an agent, a console and a server. To take full advantage of IBM Director's capabilities, the IBM Director Agent must be installed on the monitored system. Inventory and management data are stored in an SQL
SQL
SQL is a programming language designed for managing data in relational database management systems ....
database (Oracle
Oracle database
The Oracle Database is an object-relational database management system produced and marketed by Oracle Corporation....
, SQL Server
Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft SQL Server is a relational database server, developed by Microsoft: It is a software product whose primary function is to store and retrieve data as requested by other software applications, be it those on the same computer or those running on another computer across a network...
, IBM DB2
IBM DB2
The IBM DB2 Enterprise Server Edition is a relational model database server developed by IBM. It primarily runs on Unix , Linux, IBM i , z/OS and Windows servers. DB2 also powers the different IBM InfoSphere Warehouse editions...
Universal Database or PostgreSQL
PostgreSQL
PostgreSQL, often simply Postgres, is an object-relational database management system available for many platforms including Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, MS Windows and Mac OS X. It is released under the PostgreSQL License, which is an MIT-style license, and is thus free and open source software...
) which can be separate or on the same server where IBM Director Server
Global Directory Server
A Global Directory Server is a central repository for user information and application data that spans the Internet, intranets and organization-specific extranets...
resides. Smaller deployments can also utilize Microsoft's Jet
Microsoft Jet Database Engine
The Microsoft Jet Database Engine is a database engine on which several Microsoft products have been built. A database engine is the underlying component of a database, a collection of information stored on a computer in a systematic way...
or MSDE
MSDE
Microsoft SQL Server Data Engine is a relational database management system developed by Microsoft. It is a scaled-down version of Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 or 2000 which is free for non-commercial use as well as certain limited commercial use...
. The server is configured and managed using the IBM Director Console from any Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
or Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
workstation.
IBM Director is composed of these major tasks
- Asset ID
- BladeCenter Management
- CIM Browser
- Configure SNMP Agent
- Data Capture Policy Manager
- Event Action Plans
- Event Log
- External Application Launch
- File Transfer
- Hardware Status
- Inventory
- JMX Browser
- Microsoft Cluster Browser
- Network Configuration
- Process Management
- Rack Manager
- Remote Control
- Remote Session
- Retail Peripheral Management (needs Retail Extensions)
- RMA Software Distribution
- Resource Monitors
- Scheduler
- Server Configuration Manager
- SNMP Browser
- Software Distribution
- System Accounts
- Update Manager
- User Administration
Major releases
- IBM Systems Director 6.2
- IBM Systems Director 6.1
- IBM Director 5.20.3
- IBM Director 5.20.2
- IBM Director 5.20.1
- IBM Director 5.20.0
- IBM Director 5.10.3 (out of service)
- IBM Director 5.10.2 (out of service)
- IBM Director 5.10.1 (out of service)
- IBM Director 5.10.0 (out of service)
- IBM Director 4.22 (out of service)
- IBM Director 4.21 (out of service)
- IBM Director 4.20 (out of service)
- IBM Director 4.12 (out of service)
- IBM Director 4.11 (out of service)
- IBM Director 4.10 (out of service)
- IBM Director 3.1.1 (out of service)