An Architecture for Building Scalable, Web-based Management Services
Nikolaos Anerousis
AT&T Labs Research
180 Park Avenue, Bldg. 103
Florham Park, NJ 07932-0971
Email: nikos_AT_research.att.com
Abstract
We present the architecture of Marvel, a distributed computing environment
for building scalable management services using intelligent agents and the
world-wide web. Marvel is based on an information model that generates
computed views of management information and a distributed computing model
that makes these views available to a variety of client
applications. Computed views consist of monitoring, control and event views
of information collected from network elements and subsequently aggregated
using a series of spatial and temporal filters. Marvel does not replace
existing element management agents but rather builds on top of them a
hierarchy of servers that generate computed views and present them to
client applications in a number of formats, including Java-enriched web
pages. It uses a distributed persistent store to reduce the cost associated
with centralized network management systems and mobile agent technology to
a) support thin clients by uploading the necessary code to access Marvel
services and b) extend its functionality dynamically by downloading code
that incorporates new objects and services. A prototype implementation in
Java is presented together with results from its first application on a
residential broadband access system using cable modems.
Keywords: Network management, web-based management, distributed computing, information aggregation, Marvel.
JNSM: Vol. 7, No. 1, 1999
An Architecture for Building Scalable, Web-based Management Services [Vol. 7, No. 1, 1999]
NOTE: only abstract of paper available on-line
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