Recent announcements from IBM included a rash of networking and ‘openness’ statements. A new release of NetView was announced which begins to address the problems of managing multivendor networks, while at the same time giving operators anuncommonly pretty user interface. The most obvious change in Netview Version 2 Release 3 is the Enhanced Graphic Monitor Facility which runs on a PS/2 and provides the maps and fault icons without which any self respecting network operation cannot cope. Underneath the facade, however, Netview is beginning to undergo some more fundamental changes – the data for the display is provided by a new object-oriented Resource Object Data Manager which holds details of the managed devices and their relationships. Currently the Manager’s only use is for driving the graphic front end, but IBM says that it will also be the basis for new network management expert systems – could this presage an object-oriented Netview?
