XML-based policy engineering framework for heterogeneous network management

Abstract

Network services, resources, protocols, and communication technologies give rise to multiple dimensions of heterogeneity in an enterprise, resulting in a complex administration and management operation. The administrative challenge is further exacerbated by the fact that multiple enterprises share resources and users, giving rise to semantic conflicts. While Policy-Based Network Management (PBNM) provides an effective means of automating and simplifying administrative tasks, it can also cause conflicts between policies meant for separate network entities, consequently giving rise to policy heterogeneity. In order to address issues of network and policy heterogeneity, we propose a policy engineering framework using the tried and tested system development methodologies from Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and apply it to PBNM language engineering. We present an XML based policy specification language, X-Enterprise, its corresponding UML meta-model along with a context sensitive and adaptive implementation framework. Use of XML and UML affords an open standard for cross-architecture implementation and use of existing UML tools for consistency and conflict analysis. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007.