A GENERIC IMPLEMENTATION OF A NETWORK MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL SYSTEM FOR COMPUTER NETWORKS

Abstract

Computer networking has become one of the largest growing computer industries over the last ten years. During this time, elecommunications networks have progressed from Ti link interfaces with few stations per network to heterogeneous networks which provide support for X.25 and other protocols for a large number of stations. During this time of growth, some effort has been spent to develop mechanisms and standards for network management and control. However, in many cases, the network management and control is developed specifically for each network product produced. Generally, a networking product is developed with network management programs specific to the product. This is often because the network management functions are separately defined and designed as the part of the development of each networking product. These programs are usually built from scratch or built as a variant off of another networking product that the same company may have produced in the past. In either case, a majority of the required software engineering for the new product is involved with the central control and monitoring of the entire network. Even though these features are similiar for many networks, the software to mplement these features is separately designed for each separate product. A concept to minimize the amount of software engineering required is to develop a generic set of software to monitor and control networks. This software would be parameterized to allow the introduction of similiar networks which require slightly different approaches to some functions. Some of the functions that are usually part of most network monitor and control systems are: 1. Operator configuration of equipment within the network and connectivity plan; 2. Configuration of operational parameters at the network equipment; 3. Loading of software and/or configuration into network equipment components; 4. Reception of runtime and error information from network equipment; and 5. Network equipment control. These major network management features are currently being standardized by a special subcommittee of ISO. By introducing these standards, a generic network management product could be realized. However, such a product must offer compatibility with nonISO networks to make it appealing to general industry, This project will explore what functions are useful for a network management product. This model will be compared to some existing networks to test the completeness of it. This project will then propose a network management solution that will encompass the requirements for network management for many types of networks and be able to adapt to different networks with minimal software engineering effort required. The software engineering features of such a product (the design methodology, the type of language, etc.) will be explored. The information from this text could be used to design such a product to minimize future software engineering for companies that build network products so these companies can focus their talents on developing the software to pass data through the network (the ultimate goal of any networking product). Another reason for a generic set of network management and control programs is to maximize reusability of software and to enact a central mechanism for maintenance of the software. Since most networks share the same needs of a network management and control program, these needs can be expressed in a generic sense for all networks. This project focuses on networks that are centrally controlled.