Subject: [OPSAWG] pmDomainName in claise-energy-monitoring-mib-03

From: "Juergen Quittek" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 19 May 2010 10:56:26 +0200

Dear all,

I think object pmDomainName has become obsolete.
In the new version there is an object called pmKeywords
that can be used for much more general purposes than 
object pmDomainName.

pmDomainName contains a single "domain" for the managed entity.
Examples for such a domain would be "Devices on Floor 2" or
"All Desktop Phones". However, typically managed devices can
belong to more than one domain. Therefore, I do not see the
point in having this object with just a single domain.

     pmDomainName OBJECT-TYPE 
         SYNTAX          SnmpAdminString 
         MAX-ACCESS      read-write 
         STATUS          current 
         DESCRIPTION 
            "This object specifies the name of a Power Monitor Meter 
            Domain for the Power Monitor.  This object specifies a 
            null string if no Power Monitor Domain name is 
            configured. The value of pmDomainName must remain 
            constant at least from one re-initialization of the 
            entity's network management system to the next re-
            initialization." 
         ::= { pmEntry 7 } 

The new object pmKeywords (which I would rather call pmTags)
is a comma-separated tag list. It can be used to list all domains 
the device belongs too. Hence, we don't need the pmDomainName 
anymore.

But anyway, I have concerns about both objects, pmDomainName 
and pmKeywords. If I remember well, I explained this already 
in an earlier email.

The point is that mapping a device to a domain is usually done
by the NMS. The NMS knows which domains the device is in.
But then, why would we want to store the domain on the device?
For communicating domanin names between different NMSs? 

I think we need neither pmDomainName nor pmKeywords
in the energy MIB module. If there was a case for storing domain 
names on managed devices, I would suggest, creating a specific 
MIB module for this purpose instad of embedding it in the energy 
MIB module.

    Juergen