Overview
ISO/IEC 10165-7:1996 - Information technology - Open Systems Interconnection - Structure of management information: General relationship model defines a formal model for reasoning about, representing and managing relationships between resources in OSI management information. The standard specifies notational tools (Annex A), generic management information for relationships (Clause 8 and Annex B), and guidelines and proforma for implementation conformance statements (Annexes C and D). It is identical to ITU‑T Recommendation X.725 and is part of the ISO/IEC 10165 family of management-information standards.
Key topics and requirements
- General relationship model (Clause 7): conceptual framework for defining and classifying managed relationships (dependencies, composition, symmetric relationships, etc.).
- Representation tools: relationship class and mapping templates are provided to create reusable relationship specifications (Annex A).
- Generic management information (Clause 8, Annex B): predefined managed object classes (e.g., genericRelationshipObject), attributes, attribute groups, parameters, and name bindings to represent and manage relationships.
- Conformance statement proformas: guidelines and example proformas for Managed Relationship Conformance Statements (MRCS) and MIDS (attribute) proformas to document implementation support (Annexes C and D).
- Examples and commentary: illustrative representation methods and worked examples (Annexes E, F) plus guidance on reuse, naming scope and relationship-awareness (Annex G).
- Interoperability dependencies: normative references include ASN.1 and related OSI management standards; the standard does not itself provide mechanisms to maintain resource consistency implied by relationships.
Practical applications
- Creating reusable relationship specifications for systems and network management information models.
- Defining managed object classes, attributes and name bindings to represent dependency, composition and other inter-resource relationships.
- Producing conformance documentation (MRCS/MIDS) to verify vendor support of relationship semantics in management implementations.
- Modeling relationships in management frameworks used by systems architects, management tool vendors and conformance/test teams.
Who should use this standard
- Standards authors and MIB/MIM designers who define management information models.
- Systems and network management architects modeling resource dependencies and composition.
- Vendors implementing OSI management interfaces and preparing conformance statements.
- Test developers and integrators validating relationship behavior and interoperability.
Related standards
- ISO/IEC 10165-1, -2, -4, -5, -6 (other parts of the Structure of Management Information series)
- ITU‑T Rec. X.725 (identical text)
- ASN.1 / ISO/IEC 8824 (Abstract Syntax Notation One), referenced for representation
Keywords: ISO/IEC 10165-7, general relationship model, management information, OSI, managed relationships, relationship templates, conformance statement, MRCS, MIDS, ASN.1.