Patent ID: 8150863

Claim:
A method for monitoring changes in objects on a computer system, the method comprising: providing a uniform information model for the objects on the computer system; receiving a request to generate a baseline snapshot of a plurality of objects having associated object types, including at least one object having an object type not managed by a file system of the computer system, the request including an identification of a baseline definition query that identifies object types to be included in the generated baseline snapshot and their associated attributes, wherein the identification of object types and their associated attributes are specified using terms defined by the uniform information model; converting the terms defined by the uniform information model to terms used by respective ones of a plurality of data collectors associated with the identified object types and their associated attributes; requesting information from the data collectors using the terms used by the respective data collectors; receiving the information from the data collectors using the terms used by the respective data collectors; converting the terms used by the respective data collectors to the terms defined by the uniform information model; and returning the information to a requestor of the baseline snapshot using the terms defined by the uniform information model.