A policy-driven network management system for the dynamic configuration of military networks

Abstract

Military networks constantly evolve to accommodate state-of-the-art technological developments across both military and commercial systems. Operating and maintaining such complex networks is no longer a trivial task. This paper presents a policy-based network management system for military networks which allows non-technical personnel (e.g. the military commander) to guide the network to behave towards specific objectives. Through policies, the system can optimize an IP-based multi-class military network with different or combinations of objectives, as requested by the decision makers. We show how the system can dynamically produce the required network configurations given specific requirements and illustrate its practicality using case studies. © 2009 IFIP International Federation for Information Processing.