Service Modeling Language - insight and other views

An Uncommon SML-XML Update: Common Model Library (CML) Working Group Whitepaper

Hello Readers - a welcome from your humble blog author to the first post of January 2008 for the Service Modeling Language (SML) Insight Blog.

News on the topic of Model-based Management: The Common Model Library (CML) working group, a consortium of 11 leading technology companies, released detailed plans for a CML specification based on the Service Modeling Language (SML). A downloadable whitepaper has been published online as follows:

• CML Working Group Website: http://www.cml-project.org/
• Press Release and Whitepaper download: http://files.cml-project.org/CML-WhitePaper-12-13-07-Final.pdf

Why to read this document:

• CML will be expressed in the Service Modeling Language (SML)
  CML will provide an extensible library of models and common modeling elements
• CML will provide rules and guidelines for how models and modeling elements can be extended, combined, used, and abstracted
• CML models provide a set of constructs for the commonly understood entities that may exist in the managed environment (including states and relationships)
• CML will leverage existing management data sources, existing industry standards and recognized practice efforts
• CML is intended to work side by side with other models, as seamlessly as possible

Effectively, CML provides a first-cut at baseline structures and prescriptive guidance for the expression of SML management models. The whitepaper is a quick read at 11 pages - and provides insight into model-based management needs and considerations for IT organizations.

-mark

Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

SOA, Here's Some Winter Modeling Reading, if your in Oslo or Anywhere...

The last few weeks have brought forth interesting modeling-related and services/architecture-related announcements from Microsoft, including the October 30, 2007 Oslo announcement. As taken from the Microsoft Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and Business Process website:

"This set of technical investments will unify our services and modeling platforms, by moving from a world where models describe the application to a world where models are the application. The technology to deliver these capabilities will be delivered through BizTalk Server "V6", System Center "V5", Visual Studio "V10", BizTalk Services "V1" and .NET Framework "V4". The code name for this effort is 'Oslo'."

Interesting stuff - and some documents and commentary that are worth a Winter's read:

• From Microsoft:
  http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/events/soa-bpm/docs/OsloBG.doc 
   
• From InfoWorld and Computerworld:
  http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/10/30/oslo-show_1.html#commentForm
  http://www.computerworld.com.my/ShowPage.aspx?pagetype=2&articleid=6758&pubid=4&issueid=123 
   
• From William Vambenepe's Blog on SML:
  http://stage.vambenepe.com/archives/category/sml

Definitely more to come on the model languages, architectures, and management in the new year...

-mark

Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
 

SMLDiscTechRef Spells Step-By-Step Reference Guides for SML Models ... to someone ...

Reference documents have been recently published by Microsoft to provide examples, how-to details, and technical guidelines for model-based configuration management.

These technical reference guides and step-by-step best-practices documents are based on Service Modeling Language (SML), the work-in-progress standards-based (XML) language model-based configuration management.

The documents include:

• Authoring Service Modeling Language (SML) Models for Capturing and Validating Best Practices Step-by-Step Guide
  A walk-through guide that uses real-world examples to demonstrate model creation, configuration, and validation; one example given is the content construction of a model (document) for an antivirus software application.
  
  DIRECT URL: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb741062.aspx
   
• Service Modeling Language Technical Reference (download document)
  An overview of the SML language, rules, and overall architecture as it relates to declarative discovery (a first component in the validation process) functions.
   
  DIRECT URL: http://www.microsoft.com/DownLoads/details.aspx?FamilyID=93d200c2-501f-4e61-8eff-faa437393257&displaylang=en 

More to come on these guides....

- mark
 

Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. 
 

System Center Certs: Will They Include DCM - SML - Configuration Management Modeling?

I'm sharing an invitation I've just received...

On 24 October, 2007, two LiveMeeting sessions will be held to review plans for Microsoft Systems Center Certifications, specifically certifications for Systems Center Configuration Manager 2007 (SCCM) and Systems Center Operations Manager 2007 (SCOM). The details on these LiveMeeting sessions are as follows:

• October 24, 2007, at 7:30 A.M. Pacific Time
• October 24, 2007, at 5:00 P.M. Pacific Time
• (What time is this in my region?)

From the blog listed in the invitation I received, initial plans indicate that two Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) certs and a professional-series (MCITP) certification for Systems Center are in development. Estimated availability for these new certs would be during the first quarter of calendar year 2008.

• What would be of keen interest to this blog's author:
  What will the certification include in the way of configuration management? What about model-based config management?
   
• What would also be of interest to this blog's author:
  What kind of tweaky-geeky DCM or SML or XML stuff would be considered in SCCM 2007 cert exam questions?

I plan to suggest (to these cert development folks) a review of content at the SCCM-DCF website for exam fodder, including a recent webcast from the SCCM product development team about Desired Confirmation Management (SCCM-DCM) and Configuration Baselines in SCCM 2007: http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/configmgr/evaluation/configmgmt.mspx

You can find more information about Microsoft Certifications and cert exams at the Microsoft Learning portal: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp

-mark

Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. 

Nearing the Last Call for SML / SML-IF Drafts; Visiting the COSMOS

Checking in on two efforts in the Service Modeling Language (SML) environs this month:
 

COSMOS: The COSMOS (COmmunity-driven Systems Management in Open Source)

• Reviewing the COSMOS systems management project from the Eclipse standards organization, we can see this effort intends (through work with the configuration and systems management community) to provide a reference implementation of the SML [language], and SML-IF [interchange format for modeling management documents]. The COSMOS project also proposes to offer an SML and SML-IF validator implementation, and over time, COSMOS intends to leverage models defined using SML in support of system management scenarios. Available at pre-release version 0.4 as of the timeframe of this post, more information about the COSMOS project is available here: http://www.eclipse.org/cosmos/

Timeframe for the Last Call Drafts: SML and SML-IF

• Dropping in on the World Wide Web Consortium  (W3C) working group for SML (http://www.w3.org/XML/SML/), we can see that the target timeframe for the Last Call Drafts (draft-version documents) for Service Modeling Language and Service Modeling Language Interchange Format is during the remaining quarter of Calendar Year 2007 (listed as end-October 2007 as of the timeframe of this post), with review intended during early Calendar Year 2008. Updates to the latest draft(s) can be found at http://www.w3.org/TR/sml/.

-mark

Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. 

Lab It Up: Get Experience with XML-based Configuration Management using SCCM DCM

First Update: A transcript of the System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) 2007 Desired Configuration Management (DCM) TechNet Chat from July 2007 is available at the Microsoft TechNet website: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/chats/trans/sms/07_0719_tn_sccm.mspx

Second Update: Take a moment to review the SCCM TechCenter Article titled "About Configuration Items in Desired Configuration Management Configuration Manager (SCCM) 2007" which can be found at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb681020.aspx. One of the interesting sections of this article includes the following details:

• You can author configuration data using the [SCCM] Configuration Manager console, or by directly authoring a DCM Digest XML file or Service Modeling Language (SML) file.

• Configuration data that is created with the Configuration Manager console can be exported into a .cab (cabinet) file.

NICE! For management technologists, for IT Pros, or for anyone seeking XML-based configuration data used by Microsoft products, this indicates a way to get hands-on samples and examples. By using the SCCM DCM Configuration Manager console, you can become familiar with DCM Digest (XML-based) configuration statements by exporting built-in or custom SCCM DCM Configuration Baslines.

Of course, that means you need to obtain a copy of the SCCM product and DCM resources:

• For a pre-release download of SCCM, you can sign-in to the Microsoft Connect website: https://connect.microsoft.com/site/sitehome.aspx?SiteID=16&wa=wsignin1.0 
• For an online introduction to SCCM DCM, you can sign-in to the Microsoft TechNet Virtual Lab: http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=6949281

Using the Online Virtual Lab, I was able to launch the console, and quickly create a Configuration Baseline that contained the following details:

• Use the IT INFRASTRUCTURE Category
• Search for a specific Operating System version on the target system(s)
• Determine presence of the Required SCCM Client
• Determine presence of the Required Software Update

Once the new Configuration Baseline had been saved in the console, I could now EXPORT the XML-based configuration data. Alternately I could use the built-in link to view the XML code in an instance of Internet Explorer.

Requirements for using the TechNet Virtual Labs can be found here (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/bb509309.aspx) - and there are MANY other TechNet and MSDN virtual labs to try out, both for beta and for released Microsoft products.

--- mark

Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. 

CONNECTing SML to System Center Configuration Manager 2007 and Desired Configuration Management

I attended a July 2007 http://TechNet.Microsoft.com technical chat with Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 (SCCM) product team, where capabilities of the SCCM 2007 pre-release product were reviewed. One of the items of discussion was SCCM Desired Configuration Management (DCM) -- more details on DCM appear in the paragraphs below...

Before I dive into Service Modeling Language (SML) functionality within SCCM-DCM, let's quickly review a few great quotes from a recent online article, published at SearchWinIT.Com -- the article is titled "SML promises common language for systems management" and is published here:
http://searchwinit.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid1_gci1255808,00.html

This online article reviews how SML configuration management functionality now appears in pre-release versions of Microsoft Windows Server 2008, as well as the Microsoft SCCM product. SCCM can be described as the next release of Systems Management Server (SMS), and at this time of this article publish date, SCCM Release Candidate 1 is available from the Microsoft Connect portal -- use the link below, or see the link published at http://www.microsoft.com/SMServer. 

Some of the SML-related points from this online article (click here for full article text) include the following noted comments:

"...SML can read knowledge documents and drive configurations to be compliant to those desired models," said Praerit Garg, director of Microsoft's Dynamic Systems Initiative..."

"...Microsoft's prequel to SML, the System Definition Model (SDM), can already be seen at work in Windows Server 2008..."

"...System Center Configuration Manager beta also comes with desired configuration packs with rules on how to set up various types of servers..."

Now, let's look a little deeper for the SML in SCCM-DCM. The SCCM-DCM capability can use DCM Digests (model documents describing intended, or desired, configuration) for deployment of a standard server software configuration, or client system software configuration. Essentially the configuration attributes are authored (or a template model is adapted) as a model; the model is targeted for a candidate system by identity or attributes; software configuration is then deployed.

So -- where's the SML?  The creation of DCM Digests is similar in function to creation of SML-based model documents for expressing an intended configuration. But even more directly, draft SCCM documentation describes how DCM Digests, or SML models, or the Digest-authoring User Interface, can be used for defining (and then implementing) intended configuration.

One more point in the online article to note -- that a future version of SCCM should also include a "fix-it" capability, to determine and fix non-compliant systems or system issues. This "fix-it" functionality would bring a rich and extensible automated configuration management to IT organizations.

To understand more about SCCM-DCM, DCM Digests, and references to SML within the SCCM product, you may wish to review these online documents:

• About Authoring Configuration Data for Desired Configuration Management
  https://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/sms/smsv4/smsv4_help/c8b54f1c-cb9c-4c78-a8fe-ee0da5d0b561.mspx
   
• Desired Configuration Management in Configuration Manager
  http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/sms/smsv4/smsv4_help/039f146c-1599-4da3-898b-d71c1f05cab0.mspx  
   
• The Microsoft Connect - System Center Configuration Manager program portal (requires sign-in to http://connect.microsoft.com)
  https://connect.microsoft.com/site/sitehome.aspx?SiteID=16 

-mark

Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. 

Get Hands-On: Server Manager (and SDM/SML) in Windows Server 2008

Previously in the blog, I shared details about the SERVERMANAGERCMD.EXE command line management interface for Windows Server 2008 (previously codenamed Windows Server "Longhorn").

By first launching the CMD.EXE command line tool (and you may want to right-click on this start menu icon, and select Run As Administrator on your test server) you can then launch SERVERMANAGERCMD with the 'help' switch to get the details on this tool:

C:\>SERVERMANAGER.EXE  -HELP
Installs and removes roles, role services, and features. Also displays the list of all roles,
role services, and features available, and shows which are installed on this computer.

The model-based management functionality in Windows Server 2008 is based on Microsoft's System Definition Model (SDM) version3, which provided the basis for the Service Modeling Language (SML) proposal and submission to the World-Wide Web Consortium SML Working Group.

It is great to be able to experiment with model-based management in a familiar interface ... no dev required!. However, it may have been a challenge for the public to download the latest beta versions of Windows Server 2008, ensuring a recent release with the SERVERMANAGERCMD.EXE functionality was available in the beta download. And that's the GREAT NEWS FOR TODAY:

In June 2007, new Windows Server 2008 Beta version 3 online hands-on labs have been published on the www.Microsoft.com portal. The URL to the new Windows Server 2008 Beta 3 Server Manager Virtual Lab is as follows:

• http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=6901563

I have tested this on a slow-link connection just for a kick, and yes you can run this Technet Virtual Lab on dial-up but you will be sloooooooooooooooooooooooooow in all experiences. Try a broadband connection, and you'll be surprised at the UI speed and functionality of this Virtual Lab -- all you need to provide are a Passport of Windows Live logon ID, a web browser with Javascript enabled, and a download of an ActiveX control to support access to the Virtual Machines in the lab. NOTE: When I tested access from behind the firewall at my work, I also needed a firewall proxy server client (I used the Microsoft Windows Firewall client, available with Microsoft ISA Server, but a downloadable update file from www.Microsoft.com is also available) to access the virtual machines in this TechNet hands-on lab.

The lab is opened for about 120 minutes of access time; two Windows Server 2008 beta 3 virtual machines are provided, as is a PDF-based Lab Manual. The manual has lessons and exercises on using the new Server Manager configuration management interface, but essentially what you've got are two beta 3 demo system at your command, through your browser, in a safe 'sandbox' environment to use as you wish.

Note To Consultants and Writers ... virtual labs can make for convenient access, easily rebuilt, fast-setup, low-hardware-profile demonstration environments!

If you parse back through this blog, you'll find the post with the details on using SERVERMANAGERCMD.EXE to explore the XML model-based configuration management, especially the  -WhatIf  switch to try out configuration experiments and to dump console output to a logfile, for review of the XML configuration strings.

Look for more http://Technet.Microsoft.com and http://MSDN.Microsoft.com hands-on virtual labs, and more labs in the future that showcase the under-the-covers configuration management provided in Microsoft emerging products using Microsoft's implementations of SML.

-mark

Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. 

Get Busy Time: Details from the W3C SML Working Group June 2007 Meeting

Earlier in June 2007, the XML-aligned Service Modeling Language (SML) Working Group, with oversight from the World-Wide-Web Consortium (W3C), held their first face-to-face meeting. The location of this meeting was the Microsoft Campus in Redmond, Washington, USA. A meeting host was Mr. Pratul Dublish, who is one of the co-chairs of the SML WG.

Pratul has blogged about this first Face-to-Face meeting, here: http://blogs.technet.com/pratul

In addition to Pratul's blog, a rich set of details on the SML WG discussions, meeting plans, and tracklist of activities and work items can be found on the W3C Public site for the SML WG: http://www.w3.org/XML/SML/

Finally, Pratul has posted a link to his presentation from this June SML WG Face-to-Face meeting, with details on SML Language, sample coding, Schematron details, XPATH inter-document referencing, and model validation: http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-sml/2007Jun/att-0007/SML-_F2F-061107.pdf

-mark

Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

SML Insight On: Knowledge-Driven Management and the Dynamic Systems Initiative (DSI)

It is  helpful when a big-picture view of a new topic is tied to understood and emerging products/practices. Some of this big-picture presentations are described as "elevator pitches" or the "50,000-foot view" (you can call it the 15,000-meter view if you like; that's close to 50K-feet), and sometimes in these views there can be a challenge to link to richer specifics, the details of an implementation.

A recent update on the CA World 2007 Conference website describes the session titled "Efficient and Secure IT Environment with CA and Microsoft Technologies". One of the speakers for this session was Mr. Keith Bankston, a Senior Program Manager at Microsoft who is a key member of Microsoft's Service Modeling Language (SML) development and standardization efforts. The website update added a download link to the PDF copy of this session's presentation. You can find the session details and PDF download here:

• http://caworld.com/agendas/SessionDetails.aspx?SessionId=910
• http://www.caworld.com/Presentations/EN212SN.pdf 

Within this presentation, you'll read about "Evolution and Use" of SML as part of efforts to establish Design For Operations (DFO) and Knowledge-Driven Management. Mr. Bankston reviews the evolution chain beginning with the SDM v1 (predecessor to SML) limited capabilities within Visual Studio 2005, then a summary of the model-based configuration management architecture within Microsoft Windows Server 2008 (previously Windows Server codename "Longhorn"). These Microsoft Windows Server 2008 - Server Manager slides, and subsequent slides, depict the state 'discovery' data flow via a select set of providers, and the configuration 'sync' work actions that provide compliance to the SML-based models.

NOTES: The PDF file is over 15 Mbytes in download size, and begins with a rich overview by Gale Persil of CA's vision for Enterprise IT Management.

-mark

Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
 

Online Updates on Service Modeling Language: SML Working Groups, Slide Decks ... but no webcast?

First Things First:

• You might ask: "When is the next quarterly community briefing webcast?" Don't worry: You didn't miss a webcast! 
• The quick answer is: The next briefing webcast will be scheduled when we have new and useful information to share.

The target timeframe for the next in series webcast (after February 2007) had been April-May, but as it happens the next briefing will need to be delivered in the near future, so we can share rich and recent information on SML implementations, model samples, and authoring practices.

Other Things SML:

There are Modeling Community activities on-going now, and plans for future modeling community activities:

• Earlier this year, I noted that Microsoft Architect Andrea Westerinen had a presentation and workshop at the Microsoft Architect Insight conference.
  FYI: You can download Ms. Westerinen's slide deck, as well as other software documents and security architecture presentations, here: http://www.microsoft.com/uk/msdn/architecture/architectinsight/2007download.mspx
    
• The World Wide Web Consortium has invited W3C members to join into a SML Working Group, chartered to produce W3C Recommendations for SML.
  FYI: You can find the membership form and more information on the Working Group here:"
  http://www.w3.org/News/2007#item80 
   
• There will be buzz and briefings for the systems/services modeling community around the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference timeframe.
  FYI: You can find more information on the PDC here:
  http://msdn.microsoft.com/events/pdc/ 

-mark

Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. 

Show Me the SML: See Modeling in Action in Windows Server "Longhorn"

With the recent release of the pre-release Beta 3 version of Microsoft Windows Server codename "Longhorn", there are some interesting under-the-cover ways to see first-hand how the Service Modeling Language is used to provide configuration data for the installation, configuration, and removal of server roles and features. This model-based configuration management is accomplished through a set of interfaces known as the "Server Manager Experience".

First: You might want to visit a few places to learn about Microsoft Windows Server "Longhorn" status and features:

• Information about "Longhorn" Beta 3 Release: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver/longhorn
• Information about the Server Manager interface: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver/longhorn/servermanagement.mspx

Now: On the Server Manager link (above), you will learn about the new commandline configuration interface known as "Servermanagercmd.exe". This [scriptable] commandline tool has two very useful options (or switches) that can be used to obtain information about use of System Definition Model (SDM), a key source in the foundation of released Service Modeling Language (SML). By launching a CMD.exe shell, you can obtain the full listing of switches by typing:

C:\> Servermanagercmd.exe <enter>
or
C:\> Servermanagercmd.exe /? <enter>

Using a Beta3 version of Microsoft Windows Server "Longhorn" running in my office, I can select the -install, the -whatif, and the -logfile switches to PROPOSE an installation of one of the server features WITHOUT putting bits on the server. Instead, an output [text] logfile captures the needed configuration discovery, determination, and installation tasks for review.

So - where is the SML? Here's a quick look into the configuration modeling activity, in action (running as an Administrator on this server):

C:\> Servermanagercmd.exe -install web-ftp-publishing -whatif -logpath c:\MyWhatifReport.txt
Starting discovery
.....
Discovery complete.

Note: Running in 'WhatIf' Mode.

Skipping  [Web server (IIS)] Web Server (IIS) because it is already installed on this computer.

Specified for installation: [Web Server (IIS)] FTP Publishing Service
Specified for installation: [Web Server (IIS)] FTP Management snap-in
Specified for installation: [Web Server (IIS)] FTP Server

C:\>

As you can see from the above shell command and comments, using "What If" mode prevented actual installations of the requested IIS Role Service "FTP Publishing Service". When discovery between the existing system and the model data is performed, it is noted that a successful installation requires the FTP Publishing Service, MMC snap-in, and Server software, but IIS Web Server is not required since it is present.

Finally, by viewing the "What If" logfile, we can see some clarifying source-of-information strings (shown below in truncated format, for reference only):

datetime:[DISCOVERY] #---- Begin discovery
datetime:[DISCOVERY] Information (Id=2) DiscoverTree: ({http://schemas.microsoft.com/sdm/Windows/ServerManager/Computer/2005/09}Computer)
datetime:[DISCOVERY] Information (Id=3) DiscoverGuests: ({http://schemas.microsoft.com/sdm/Windows/ServerManager/Computer/2005/09}Computer)
datetime:[DC-NativeMethods]          basicInfo.MachineRole: DsRole_RoleMemberServer
datetime:[ComputerState]               No reboot pending...
datetime:[DC-NativeMethods]          IsDsRoleOperationNeedReboot() : False
datetime:[WindowsProvider]            Volume:: DriveLetter='C:\', Name='C:\', FS='', Capacity=Ntfs, FreeSpace=250057060352

Items of note include the identification of the SDM (a modeling implementation from Microsoft, and a key source of SML Specification) Schema context used for Discovery, and call to known Providers for pre-installation configuration data.

-mark

You Can Quote Them on the SML Specification

IT press and media outlets have recently provided comments and quotes about the Service Modeling Language Specification, in light of the acknowledgement of the SML Spec submission to the World Wide Web Consortium. A few online links have been added through blog comments/pingbacks (thanks folks!); I'll highlight a few other press mentions below:

<><><>

The March 2007 Microsoft PressPass web portal has an updated news article on the SML Specification submissions, with quotes from many of folks that participated in the SML Working Group, including:

• Zulah Eckert of BEA Systems Inc.
• Tom Bishop of BMC Software Inc.
• Edward Marootian Jr. of CA Inc.
• Winston Bumpus of Dell Inc.
• Jeff Nick of EMC Corp.
• William Vambenepe of HP Software
• Ric Telford of IBM Corp.
• Robert B. Crooke of Intel Corporation
• Bill Smith of Sun Microsystems Inc.
• Kirill Tatarinov of Microsoft Corp.

Also in a late-March press release on Microsoft PressPass: Details of Bob Muglia's key messages at the Microsoft Management Summit 2007 conference in San Diego, California, USA.

An excerpt from the press release describes Microsoft's commitment to SML, as being "...planned for inclusion across System Center to allow for the management of software and hardware that the industry is developing as well as the management of Windows systems." 

During his keynote address, Bob Muglia was joined onstage by Howard Elias (executive vice president of the Global Services and Resource Management Software Group at EMC Corporation) and by video by Charlie Giancarlo (chief development officer at Cisco) to jointly announce a three-way collaboration to create a set of infrastructure common models that will combine the expertise and strengths of the three companies, with a goal "...to help customers take advantage of SML to reduce complexity and simplify management of IT infrastructure-related tasks and resources."

<><><>

In another online article, at the Windows IT Pro Magazine web portal, Editor Karen Forster has a transcribed discussion with Microsoft Corporate Vice President Kirill Tatarinov and Microsoft System Center General Manager of Marketing Larry Orecklin.

 The article provides an update on product and progress announcements at the MMS 2007 conference, and provides insight into Microsoft's support of SML for systems and configuration management.

Readers may also note a brief mention of Microsoft's participation in the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) Consortium.

<><><>

- mark

Progress! SML is an Acknowledged Member Submission to W3C

As posted at http://www.w3.org/Submission/, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has acknowledged the member submission of the Service Modeling Language (SML) specification documents. Version 1.0 of the specification documents, namely the SML Language Specification and the SML Interchange Format Specification are publicly available at the W3C member submissions web site. 

Some SML insight from the W3C team may be found in the teams' comments posted at http://www.w3.org/Submission/2007/01/Comment:

• "... SML is properly viewed not as a schema language competing with XML Schema 1.0, nor as a revision of XML Schema 1.0, but as a layer of inter-document constraints designed to be used on top of XML Schema."
   
• "SML can thus be interpreted as providing, at the same time, (a) a layered extension of XML Schema, which allows validation to enforce structural and referential integrity constraints within a single XML document but also across multiple documents, and (b) a subset or profile of XML Schema 1.0." 

And there is much more work to be done with regards to SML. As my associate Pratul Dublish observes in his blog:

• "...this does not mean that these specifications have become W3C Recommendations. We have a lot of work ahead of us to charter and create an SML working group within W3C and start the process to put these specifications on recommendation track."

Congratulations to the submitting W3C Members (including BEA, CA, Cisco, EMC (Documentum), HP, IBM, Intel, Microsoft and Sun Microsystems), and to all participants in the SL Working Group, for reaching this milestone.

- mark

I Missed The Community Webcast - How Can I Learn More About Service Modeling Language (SML)?

OK, OK:  You were too busy testing the new application, or racking servers, or deploying new client systems, or perhaps you were just too busy MANAGING the business infrastructure at your company. For some reason, you just didn't have a chance to attend the February 2007 SML-SDM Quarterly Community Briefing Webcast.

The Great News: You can still get the updates from members of Microsoft's Service Modeling Language Platform development team, by requesting a copy of the Feb 2007 Community Briefing Webcast. The request procedure has these steps:

• Send email to mailto:marklaw@microsoft.com and request the Microsoft DPA form required for these Community Briefings. 
• Review this Microsoft Design Preview Agreement (DPA) form, which describes information sharing for briefing participants, and use of feedback from briefing participants.
• If acceptable, complete and return the Microsoft DPA form.
• A recording of the briefing will be made available for your review.

And, after completing and returning the DPA form, you'll automatically be invited to future Quarterly Community Briefing Webcasts -- the next webcast has been planned for May 2, 2007.

<><><>

If you prefer an in-person update on Microsoft's Dynamic Systems Intiative resources and model-based management product efforts, attend this session at the CA WORLD 2007 Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada (USA) during April 22-26, 2007:

• SESSION TITLE: Efficient and Secure IT Environment with CA and Microsoft Technologies
• SESSON SPEAKERS: Microsoft Senior Program Manager Keith Bankston, and CA Product Management Director Gale Persil 
• SESSION DATE: April 24, 2007 -- starts at 9:45am
• SESSION SUMMARY: "Come to this session to find out how Microsoft and CA are working together to ensure that your IT investments are optimized and how strategically we will provide a complimentary strategy for management."
• LINK FOR MORE INFORMATION: http://www.caworld.com/agendas/SessionDetails.aspx?SessionId=910

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