  RE: FYI ... An article on CIM,Policy Framework WG and modeling
from Network Computing   A network information model, meaning a
model of topology, connections, virtual circuits, VPN
partitions, and other relationships between network elements,
belongs in an information tier where it can be accessed by any
authorized business process in the enterprise. This can be
implemented with a directory, an OODB, or other data storage &
access technology. For an explanation of information tier
concepts in distributed computing and network mgmt, please see:
As for modeling protocols, at least as pertains to network and
service mgmt (my interest), I don't think protocol modeling is
critical if one takes a more modern approach and minimizes their
use. At this point in time, the O-O paradigm has subsumed
distributed computing. What needs modeling are object
interfaces, which are then made available by means of a very
small number of protocols that enable transparent distributed
computing, such as the IIOP, Java RMI, or SO