A major activity in the Storage Management Initiative (SMI) is the Storage Management Initiative Specification (SMI-S). This specification defines an interface for the management of a Storage Area Network (SAN) that has a heterogeneous environment of management applications, storage devices and storage systems from different vendors. The interface uses standards-based protocols and specifications to provide interoperability, security and extensibility. The SMI-S leverages the Common Information Model (CIM), Web Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) and the Service Location Protocol (SLP).