Design of a Mobile Agent for Monitoring Activities of Users

Monitoring is an aspect of network management aimed at ensuring optimal performance of the network and that the users play by the rules. This paper presents the design of a mobile agent for monitoring the activities of users in a network. Users’ activities can be localized on their personal workstation or extended to the enterprise network and the Internet, in which case it can impact on the subscribed bandwidth, which is a shared resource of the corporate entity that they represent. All users hope to work in an environment of unlimited resources, including disk space, RAM and bandwidth. However, though the cost of these computing resources have reduced significantly owning to advances in microelectronic technology, they are still far from being free and inexhaustible. In this research, we design a mobile agent tool that can monitor users’ activities in a network environment with a view to enhancing the effective utilisation of system resources, and in particular, the physical memory. The aim is to enable optimal resource utilisation in the network environment. In this paper, we define a mathematical formulation of user activities, load overhead of mobile agents and itinerary partition to avoid the over-bloating problem. The architecture of the mobile agent is explained. Keywords: Mobile Agent; System resources; Computer network; Code Mobility; Monitorin

Design of a Mobile Agent for Monitoring Activities of Users

Monitoring is an aspect of network management aimed at ensuring optimal performance of the network and that the users play by the rules. This paper presents the design of a mobile agent for monitoring the activities of users in a network. Users’ activities can be localized on their personal workstation or extended to the enterprise network and the Internet, in which case it can impact on the subscribed bandwidth, which is a shared resource of the corporate entity that they represent. All users hope to work in an environment of unlimited resources, including disk space, RAM and bandwidth. However, though the cost of these computing resources have reduced significantly owning to advances in microelectronic technology, they are still far from being free and inexhaustible. In this research, we design a mobile agent tool that can monitor users’ activities in a network environment with a view to enhancing the effective utilisation of system resources, and in particular, the physical memory. The aim is to enable optimal resource utilisation in the network environment. In this paper, we define a mathematical formulation of user activities, load overhead of mobile agents and itinerary partition to avoid the over-bloating problem. The architecture of the mobile agent is explained. Keywords: Mobile Agent, System resources, Computer network, Code Mobility, Monitorin

Gestão gráfica de dispositivos ativos de rede multivendor

Introduction: This article shows the result of the research “Prototype for the graphic management of active network devices in multivendor environments by means of a single management platform” conducted by the Orión research group at the School of Technology, Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas in 2013. The work itself has been analyzed and updated with the results of the latest research on the subject until 2017. It covers network monitoring and management, which are essential operations to maintain and control it environments that are increasingly complex and heterogeneous. Methods: Construction of the software prototype called DeviceView is described, which allows network administrators to graphically manage active network devices (switch type) in a LAN. Results: The network administrator does not have to handle each manufacturer’s management tool. In order to facilitate and centralize the task for the network administrator, DeviceView is integrated into the open source nms Nagios. Conclusion: DeviceView is a very useful unified tool for network administrators working in a multivendor environment, such as those that organizations have at present. Originality: Until now, there have been no unified management projects based on open source tools in a multivendor environment. Limitations: DeviceView in its first version includes 36 object identifiers, but it can be extended to support other switch brands and families. Introducción: este artículo muestra el resultado del trabajo “Prototipo para la administración gráfica de dispositivos activos de red en ambientes multivendor por medio de una plataforma de gestión única”, realizado en el grupo de investigación Orión de la Facultad Tecnológica de la Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas, en el 2013. El trabajo mismo ha sido analizado y actualizado con los resultados de las últimas investigaciones sobre el tema hasta el 2017. Aborda el monitoreo y la gestión de red, actividades esenciales para mantener y controlar los entornos de ti que cada vez son más complejos y heterogéneos. Metodología: se describe la construcción del prototipo de software denominado DeviceView, el cual permite a los administradores de red gestionar de forma gráfica dispositivos activos de red (tipo switch) que se encuentren en una LAN Resultados: el administrador de red no tiene que manipular cada una de las herramientas de gestión de cada fabricante. A fin de facilitar y centralizar la tarea al administrador de red el DeviceView está integrado al nms de código abierto Nagios. Conclusión: DeviceView se convierte en una herramienta unificada de gran utilidad para los administradores de red que trabajan en un ambiente multivendor, como los que hoy se tienen en las organizaciones. Originalidad: hasta ahora no se habían realizado proyectos de gestión unificada basados en herramientas open source en un ambiente multivendor. Limitaciones: el DeviceView en su primera versión incluye 36 identificadores de objeto, pero se puede ampliar para soportar otras marcas y familias de switches. Introdução: este artigo mostra o resultado do trabalho “Protótipo para a administração gráfica de dispositivos ativos de rede em ambientes multivendor por meio de uma plataforma de gestão única”, realizado no grupo de pesquisa Orión da Faculdade Tecnológica da Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas, em 2013. O trabalho em si tem sido analisado e atualizado com os resultados das últimas pesquisas sobre o tema até 2017. Aborda a monitoração e a gestão de rede, atividades essenciais para manter e controlar os ambientes de ti que cada vez são mais complexos e heterogêneos.Metodologia: descreve-se a construção do protótipo de software denominado DeviceView, o qual permite aos administradores de rede gerir de forma gráfica dispositivos ativos de rede (tipo switch) que se encontrem numa LAN.Resultados: o administrador de rede não tem que manipular todas as ferramentas de gestão de cada fabricante. A fim de facilitar e centralizar a tarefa ao administrador de rede, o DeviceView está integrado ao nms de código aberto Nagios.Conclusão: o DeviceView torna-se uma ferramenta unificada de grande utilidade para os administradores de rede que trabalham num ambiente multivendor, como os que hoje se têm nas organizações.Originalidade: até agora, não têm sido realizados projetos de gestão unificada baseados em ferramentas open source num ambiente multivendor.Limitações: o DeviceView, em sua primeira versão, inclui 36 identificadores de objeto, mas pode ser ampliado para suportar outras marcas e famílias de switches. Palavra

Assessing the security of VoIP Services

ISBN : 1-4244-0799-0/http://www.comsoc.orgInternational audienceVoIP networks are in a major deployment phase and are becoming widely spread out due to their extended functionality and cost efficiency. Meanwhile, as VoIP traffic is transported over the Internet, it is the target of a range of attacks that can jeopardize its proper functionality. In this paper we describe our work in a VoIP specific security assessment framework. Such an assessment is automated with integrated discovery actions, data management and security attacks allowing to perform VoIP specific penetration tests. These tests are important because they permit to search and detect existing vulnerabilities or misconfigured devices and services. Our main contributions consist in an elaborated network information model capable to be used in VoIP assessment, an extensible assessment architecture and its implementation, as well as in a comprehensive framework for defining and composing VoIP specific attacks

Service-oriented architecture for device lifecycle support in industrial automation

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores Especialidade: Robótica e Manufactura IntegradaThis thesis addresses the device lifecycle support thematic in the scope of service oriented industrial automation domain. This domain is known for its plethora of heterogeneous equipment encompassing distinct functions, form factors, network interfaces, or I/O specifications supported by dissimilar software and hardware platforms. There is then an evident and crescent need to take every device into account and improve the agility performance during setup, control, management, monitoring and diagnosis phases. Service-oriented Architecture (SOA) paradigm is currently a widely endorsed approach for both business and enterprise systems integration. SOA concepts and technology are continuously spreading along the layers of the enterprise organization envisioning a unified interoperability solution. SOA promotes discoverability, loose coupling, abstraction, autonomy and composition of services relying on open web standards – features that can provide an important contribution to the industrial automation domain. The present work seized industrial automation device level requirements, constraints and needs to determine how and where can SOA be employed to solve some of the existent difficulties. Supported by these outcomes, a reference architecture shaped by distributed, adaptive and composable modules is proposed. This architecture will assist and ease the role of systems integrators during reengineering-related interventions throughout system lifecycle. In a converging direction, the present work also proposes a serviceoriented device model to support previous architecture vision and goals by including embedded added-value in terms of service-oriented peer-to-peer discovery and identification, configuration, management, as well as agile customization of device resources. In this context, the implementation and validation work proved not simply the feasibility and fitness of the proposed solution to two distinct test-benches but also its relevance to the expanding domain of SOA applications to support device lifecycle in the industrial automation domain

A framework for adaptive monitoring and performance management of component-based enterprise applications

Most large-scale enterprise applications are currently built using component-based middleware platforms such as J2EE or .NET. Developers leverage enterprise services provided by such platforms to speed up development and increase the robustness of their applications. In addition, using a component-oriented development model brings benefits such as increased reusability and flexibility in integrating with third-party systems. In order to provide the required services, the application servers implementing the corresponding middleware specifications employ a complex run-time infrastructure that integrates with developer-written business logic. The resulting complexity of the execution environment in such systems makes it difficult for architects and developers to understand completely the implications of alternative design options over the resulting performance of the running system. They often make incorrect assumptions about the behaviour of the middleware, which may lead to design decisions that cause severe performance problems after the system has been deployed. This situation is aggravated by the fact that although application servers vary greatly in performance and capabilities, many advertise a similar set of features, making it difficult to choose the one that is the most appropriate for their task. The thesis presents a methodology and tool for approaching performance management in enterprise component-based systems. By leveraging the component platform infrastructure, the described solution can nonintrusively instrument running applications and extract performance statistics. The use of component meta-data for target analysis, together with standards-based implementation strategies, ensures the complete portability of the instrumentation solution across different application servers. Based on this instrumentation infrastructure, a complete performance management framework including modelling and performance prediction is proposed. Most instrumentation solutions exhibit static behaviour by targeting a specified set of components. For long running applications, a constant overhead profile is undesirable and typically, such a solution would only be used for the duration of a performance audit, sacrificing the benefits of constantly observing a production system in favour of a reduced performance impact. This is addressed in this thesis by proposing an adaptive approach to monitoring which uses execution models to target profiling operations dynamically on components that exhibit performance degradation; this ensures a negligible overhead when the target application performs as expected and a minimum impact when certain components under-perform. Experimental results obtained with the prototype tool demonstrate the feasibility of the approach in terms of induced overhead. The portable and extensible architecture yields a versatile and adaptive basic instrumentation facility for a variety of potential applications that need a flexible solution for monitoring long running enterprise applications