OpenRSM: a lightweight integrated open source remote management solution

The management of the corporate information technology (IT) environment is rapidly increasing in complexity as server logic architecture becomes more distributed and the number of entities deployed increases, forcing enterprises to resort to thick, complex and expensive high-end integrated systems and network management solutions. Investing in such systems can be ineffi cient for small and medium corporations, since the vast majority of management tasks performed are routine tasks, while personnel specialization requirements and costs are high. At the same time, the open source community has not yet produced a reliable and complete system and network management solution. Even though there are open source initiatives specializing in specifi c fi elds of remote management, such as network management, there has been no integrated open source solution yet. This paper introduces the Open Source Remote Systems Management (OpenRSM) platform. OpenRSM is an integrated remote management system created by integrating individual specialized open source management initiatives and signifi cantly augmenting them to support additional functionality, so that a complete lightweight system and network management solution is produced. The system implemented facilitates daily management by providing an effi cient, simple and adaptable environment for the majority of management operations. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.