1.4 Relationship to Other Protocols

The Windows Management Instrumentation Remote Protocol uses the DCOM Remote Protocol to communicate over the network and to authenticate all requests issued against the infrastructure. The DCOM Remote Protocol is actually the foundation for the Windows Management Instrumentation Remote Protocol and is used to accomplish the following:

  • Establish the protocol.

  • Secure the communication channel.

  • Authenticate clients.

  • Implement reliable communication between clients and servers.

This implies that the DCOM Remote Protocol implementation provides and uses all underlying protocols, as specified in [MS-RPCE], [MS-DCOM], and [C706].

In addition to DCOM Remote Protocol support, the Windows Management Instrumentation Remote Protocol uses a special encoding, as specified in [MS-WMIO], to transfer information as specified in [DMTF-DSP0004] over the network.