Active networking, where network nodes perform customized processing of packets, is a rapidly expanding field of research. This work is based on the assumption that active networking technology will mature to a point where it can be commercially deployed on a larger scale. We investigate the realization of service provisioning and service management that is based on active networking technology. Compared to conventional networking technology, active networking concepts enable additional flexibility in supporting management tasks.
We describe and implement a framework that allows customers, on the one hand, to access and manage a service in a provider's domain, and, on the other hand, to outsource a service and its management to a service provider.
Our framework has the properties of supporting
In today's telecom environments, customers and service providers typically interact via two interfaces--the management interface and the service interface. The management interface, based on standardized management protocols, is generally used for service provisioning and service management. The customer accesses the service through the service interface. Both interfaces are service specific; a provider has to support different service and management interfaces for each service offered, which makes the introduction of new services dependent on standardization, and therefore time consuming and expensive.
The introduction of active networking technology in telecom environments, characterized by the use of active networking nodes as network elements, will change the role of these interfaces in two ways. First, using active networking nodes enables the definition of a generic service interface for network services, based on the concept of active packets. In addition, this service interface can be used by the customer for service management interactions, i.e., for operations related to the installation, supervision, upgrading and removal of a specific service. Therefore, service management operations can be performed by a customer without interaction with the provider's management system. Second, the management interface, i.e., the interface through which the customer and the provider management systems cooperate, can be restricted to the task of service provisioning. Similar to the service interface, the management interface can be kept generic; it relates to a generic service abstraction that allows for installing and running a large class of network services.
In a telecom environment, customers and providers interact in two different ways. The first way can be described by a set of functions offered by the provider to the customer through a specific service abstraction, such as a virtual network. The second way is known as outsourcing, whereby a provider configures and runs a service to be utilized by the customer. In today's environments, the first type of interaction is generally constrained to a simple, high-level service abstraction offered by the provider, which gives the customer limited management capabilities, mostly constrained to monitoring. Many customers favor this approach, since it keeps the complexity of their control and management systems low. However, there are customer groups with specific requirements, such as military organizations or large companies, which prefer more detailed service abstractions, combined with control and management capabilities inside the provider's domain. To meet the demands of these customers, new service abstractions are needed,. The second type of interaction, the case of outsourcing, generally gives a provider full access to network elements in the customer domain, which can be seen as a fine-grained model, associated with powerful management capabilities.
The introduction of active networking technology will change both types
of interactions described above. The granularity of a service abstraction
and its related control capabilities can be chosen, ranging from a very
limited, constrained service model to a very detailed one. A generic service
abstraction, the Virtual Active Network, can be defined. A service instance
based on this abstraction can be configured at the time of service provisioning,
and it can then be refined according to a customer's specific requirements.
An implementation of an active network node, VAN management, service management, you can get for free. Please send me an e-mail to brunner@computer.org indicating what you plan to do with the software