Using Models

Modeling concepts is important to developing software systems. A developer must understand the domain's entities, relationships between entities, and interfaces for how various components interact. In object-oriented design and analysis, the developer must understand classes and relationships between them. In data modeling for databases, the developer must understand tables and relationships between them. Similar concepts apply to pxGrid.

pxGrid supports the use of one or more models. A model defines entities, relationships, and interfaces used by pxGrid nodes. As an example, consider the identity model supported by Cisco's Identity Services Engine (ISE). It defines entities such as Session, IPAddress, Posture, and User. It also defines relationships between entities. A Session takes places through an IPAddress and Interface. In the model a Session contains an Interface and an IPAddress. Many other relationships exist; this is a subset of the overall model.