Networks and distributed systems have formed the basis of an ongoing communications revolution
that has led to the genesis of a wide variety of services. The constantly increasing size and
complexity of these systems does not come without problems. In some organisations, the
deployment of Information Technology has reached a state where the benefits from downsizing and
rightsizing by adding new services are undermined by the effort required to keep the system
running.
Management of networks and distributed systems in general has a straightforward goal: to provide
a productive environment in which work can be performed effectively. The work required for
management should be a small fraction of the total effort. Most IT systems are still managed in an
ad hoc style without any carefully elaborated plan. In such an environment the success of
management decisions depends totally on the qualification and knowledge of the administrator.
The thesis provides an analysis of the state of the art in the area of Network and System
Management and identifies the key requirements that must be addressed for the provisioning of
Integrated Management Services. These include the integration of the different management related
aspects (i.e. integration of heterogeneous Network, System and Service Management).
The thesis then proposes a new framework, INSMware, for the provision of Management Services.
It provides a fundamental basis for the realisation of a new approach to Network and System
Management. It is argued that Management Systems can be derived from a set of pre-fabricated
and reusable Building Blocks that break up the required functionality into a number of separate
entities rather than being developed from scratch. It proposes a high-level logical model in order to
accommodate the range of requirements and environments applicable to Integrated Network and
System Management that can be used as a reference model.
A development methodology is introduced that reflects principles of the proposed approach, and
provides guidelines to structure the analysis, design and implementation phases of a management
system. The INSMware approach can further be combined with the componentware paradigm for
the implementation of the management system. Based on these principles, a prototype for the
management of SNMP systems has been implemented using industry standard middleware
technologies. It is argued that development of a management system based on Componentware
principles can offer a number of benefits. INSMware Components may be re-used and system
solutions will become more modular and thereby easier to construct and maintain.
Date of Award | 2002 |
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Original language | English |
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Awarding Institution | |
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A Generic Network and System Management Framework
Knahl, M. H. (Author). 2002
Student thesis: PhD