Policies in Network and Systems Management - Formal Definition and Architecture



Rene Wies
TTI TECTRAN GmbH,
Technology Transfer Consultants
P.O. Box 251, 82026 Gruenwald/Munich
Germany
Email: r.wies_AT_ieee.org



Abstract
The task of managing information technology resources becomes increasingly complex as managers must take heterogeneous systems, different networking technologies, and distributed applications into consideration. As the number of resources to be managed grows, the task of managing these devices and applications depends on numerous system and vendor specific issues. To prevent the operators from drowning in excessive detail, the level of abstraction needs to be raised in order to hide system and network specifics. Policies which are derived from the goals of management define the desired behaviour of distributed heterogeneous systems and networks, and specify means to enforce this behavior. A formal definition of policies is presented and examples of policies from network and systems management are given to illustrate the concept. An architecture is introduced to show how a policy system can be realized.

Keywords: Policies; network and systems management; policy definition; policy objects; policy enforcement; policy monitoring

JNSM: Vol. 2, No. 1, 1994 Policies in Network and Systems Management - Formal Definition and Architecture [Vol. 2, No. 1, 1994]



NOTE: only abstract of paper available on-line

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