A Survey of Distributed Enterprise Network and Systems Management Paradigms

Since the mid 1990s, network and systems management has steadily evolved from centralized paradigms, where the management application runs on a single management station, to distributed paradigms, where it is distributed over many nodes. In this survey, our goal is to classify all these paradigms, especially the new ones, in order to help network and systems administrators design a management application, and choose between mobile code, distributed objects, intelligent agents, etc. Step by step, we build an enhanced taxonomy based on four criteria: the delegation granularity, the semantic richness of the information model, the degree of specification of a task, and the degree of automation of management

Decentralized Network Management Using Web-Based Technologies

The emerging Web-based proposals for network management are a promising approach for managing distributed and heterogeneous computer networks. This paper discusses how these technologies can be used to implement the Management by Delegation decentralised paradigm (MbD, introduced by Yemini and Goldszmidt). Managers and agents can benefit from the ease of use and platform-independence of Web-based protocols and tools while supporting the essential feature of MbD: elasticity

Using WSDM and Web Service Ping for QoS based Web Service Selection

By using the standard Web Service Distributed Management (WSDM) and Web Service Ping, we introduce a lightweight solution to the Web Service QoS problem. The Management of Web Services (MOWS) part of WSDM is used to publish Web Service's QoS parameters. Management using Web Services (MUWS), the second part of WSDM, is used to monitor IT resources' QoS. Examples are server's QoS, application server's QoS and network's QoS. Web Service Ping can be used as a simple diagnostic tool for Web Service's latency and Web Service's availability across organizational boundaries. Therefore, we propose to introduce a standardized Web Service Ping operation into all Web Services. All QoS data retrieved by using MOWS, MUWS and Web Service Ping, can be used for Web Service selection. We introduced a new Web Service selection architecture, the Delegation Web Service as selector. Compared to Web Service Broker as selector, consumer as selector and QoS enhanced UDDI as selector, the Delegation Web Service as selector offers a better solution for implementing Web Service load balancing and can increase the security of and for Web Services

Flexible Session Management in a Distributed Environment

Many secure communication libraries used by distributed systems, such as SSL, TLS, and Kerberos, fail to make a clear distinction between the authentication, session, and communication layers. In this paper we introduce CEDAR, the secure communication library used by the Condor High Throughput Computing software, and present the advantages to a distributed computing system resulting from CEDAR's separation of these layers. Regardless of the authentication method used, CEDAR establishes a secure session key, which has the flexibility to be used for multiple capabilities. We demonstrate how a layered approach to security sessions can avoid round-trips and latency inherent in network authentication. The creation of a distinct session management layer allows for optimizations to improve scalability by way of delegating sessions to other components in the system. This session delegation creates a chain of trust that reduces the overhead of establishing secure connections and enables centralized enforcement of system-wide security policies. Additionally, secure channels based upon UDP datagrams are often overlooked by existing libraries; we show how CEDAR's structure accommodates this as well. As an example of the utility of this work, we show how the use of delegated security sessions and other techniques inherent in CEDAR's architecture enables US CMS to meet their scalability requirements in deploying Condor over large-scale, wide-area grid systems

An Automated, Distributed, Intelligent Fault Management System for Communication Networks

In this paper we present a Distributed Intelligent Fault Management (DIFM) system for communication networks. The overall architecture of the proposed system is based on a distributed, cooperative, multi-agent paradigm, with probabilistic networks as the framework for knowledge representation and evidence inferencing. We adopt the management by delegation paradigm for network monitoring and integrate both hard and soft faults

Management by Objectives (MBO) as an Instrument for Organizational Performance of Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria

This study investigated Management by Objectives (MBO) as an instrument for organizational performance of deposit money banks in Nigeria, Yola metropolis in particular. Data for the study was sourced through the use of structured questionnaires distributed to the selected deposit money banks (Diamond, Fidelity and Access banks). The study employed descriptive statistics, multiple regression technique in estimating the relationship between MBO and organizational performance of deposit money banks in Yola metropolis, correlation coefficient was also used to test the extent to which MBO relate to organizational performance of deposit money banks. The study revealed that involvement of employees in Goal Settings (GS), Delegation of Authority to the employees (DA) and Motivation to the employees (M) were positively affecting organizational performance of the deposit money banks in Yola metropolis and their coefficients were rightly signed, implying that increase in the  involvement of employees in Goal Settings (GS), Delegation of Authority to the employees (DA) and Motivation to the employees (M) will improve the performance of deposit money banks in Nigeria. Keywords: Management, Organizational Performance, Deposit Money, Nigeri

Annotated Typology of Distributed Network Management Paradigms

Over the past few years, network management has steadily evolved from a centralized model, where all the management processing takes place on a single network management station, to distributed models, where management is distributed over a number, potentially large, of nodes. Among distributed models, one, the weakly distributed hierarchical model, has been around for several years, whereas a flurry of new ones, based on mobile code, distributed objects or cooperative agents, have only recently emerged. Which of these techniques will eventually win ? Will several ones have to coexist ? How do they compare to each other ? In order to provide a framework to analyze these issues, this paper presents a comprehensive typology of all network management paradigms known to date, whether they have been successfully implemented already or whether they are still confined to the research community. By comparing these models with those used in another research field, enterprise management, we delineate a common trend of evolution, and attempt to predict what the future holds for network management. Keywords : Distributed Network Management, Organizational Models, Mobile Code, Management by Delegation, Distributed Objects, Intelligent Agents