A High-Level Notation For The Specification Of Network Management Applications

The standardisation and the subsequent widespread use of open network management services and protocols has not lightened the tremendous burden of the developers of network management tools and applications. The main problem consists of bridging the gap between the low-level management functionality provided by network management protocols like SNMP or CMIP and the elaborate functionality desired in most network management tools/applications. This paper presents the main aspects of a project that is being developed at the Computer Networks Laboratory of the University of Coimbra, that addresses the problems of specifying and implementing network management applications in an easy, rapid and versatile way. The project is based on the definition and use of a high level notation for the specification of network management applications, that frees the applications developer from the details of network management communication protocols and provides the necessary abstractions that enable him/her to concentrate on the desired solutions. In addition, the proposed notation can be used as a common language for the developers of network management tools, as a way to rapidly specify prototype applications and, possibly, in the development of network management application compilers. A High-Level Notation For The Specification Of Network Management Applications 2 1. OVERVIEW 1.