Managing Agent Platforms with Managing Agent Platforms with the the Simple Network Management Simple Network Management Protocol Protocol Brian Remick Thesis Defense March 25, 2022
Managing Agent Platforms with the Simple Network Management Protocol Brian Remick Thesis Defense June 26, 2015.
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Managing Agent Platforms with theManaging Agent Platforms with theSimple Network ManagementSimple Network Management
ProtocolProtocol
Brian Remick
Thesis Defense
April 18, 2023
April 18, 2023 2
The Big PictureThe Big Picture
FIPA-OS
Jade
Laser printer
Workstation
IBM Compatible
Network ManagementSoftware
April 18, 2023 3
OverviewOverview
Background
Motivation
Network Management / SNMP
AgentSNMP
Agent Patterns
Summary
April 18, 2023 4
BackgroundBackground
Agent– Software process that can make decisions autonomously.
» Without a central control mechanism.
– Communication via a standard messaging language (ACL).
– Able to migrate from one platform / host to another.
Agent Platform– Development framework for agent software
– Runtime environment for agents» Concurrent agent activities» Agent communication» Agent migration
– FIPA – Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents» Formal specification for agent platforms
April 18, 2023 5
MotivationMotivation
Agent platforms are complex runtime environments.– Difficult to debug from a software perspective.
– Difficult to analyze from an administrator’s perspective.
No formal management specification.– FIPA leaves this up to the platform implementation.
– Thus, each implementation does it differently (if at all).
April 18, 2023 6
Jade Agent Management – RMA Jade Agent Management – RMA
April 18, 2023 7
Jade Agent Management – SnifferJade Agent Management – Sniffer
April 18, 2023 8
Network ManagementNetwork Management
Basic Goals– Manage resources of vastly different types in a standard way.
– Must be scalable, flexible.
– Non-intrusive (as much as possible).
April 18, 2023 9
Network ManagementNetwork Management
Components of a typical network management system– Resources
» Devices, software that need to be managed.
– Proxy “agents”» Act as representatives for resources.
» Expose standard interface to resource.
– Communication protocol» Supports messages between proxy agent and management system.
» SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol)
– Management system(s)» Polls / modifies attributes through the proxy agent interface.
» HP Openview
April 18, 2023 10
Network ManagementNetwork Management
Standard Interface
Resource-SpecificImplementation
Standard Interface
Resource-SpecificImplementation
Standard Interface
Resource-SpecificImplementation
Database
ResourceInterface Resource
InterfaceResourceInterface
Display / Graphs / Reports
Management System
Analysis / Threshold Monitors
ProtocolProtocol
Proxy Agent Proxy Agent Proxy Agent
April 18, 2023 11
SNMPSNMP
Industry standard protocol for network management.
MIB (Management Information Base)
– “Interface” for resources
Flexibility is key.– Need to be able to facilitate interface
for any resource.
Off-the-shelf management software natively supports it.
Standard Interface
Resource-SpecificImplementation
Standard Interface
Resource-SpecificImplementation
Standard Interface
Resource-SpecificImplementation
Database
ResourceInterface Resource
InterfaceResourceInterface
Display / Graphs / Reports
Management System
Analysis / Threshold Monitors
ProtocolProtocol
Proxy Agent Proxy Agent Proxy Agent
April 18, 2023 12
Proxy “Agents”Proxy “Agents”
Expose standard interface defined by MIB.
Provide resource-specific implementation– Hide complexity of resource/device from manager.
Respond to requests from managers.
Able to send asynchronous traps.
Standard Interface
Resource-SpecificImplementation
Standard Interface
Resource-SpecificImplementation
Standard Interface
Resource-SpecificImplementation
Database
ResourceInterface Resource
InterfaceResourceInterface
Display / Graphs / Reports
Management System
Analysis / Threshold Monitors
ProtocolProtocol
Proxy Agent Proxy Agent Proxy Agent
April 18, 2023 13
Enterprise Management SystemsEnterprise Management Systems
Sophisticated control over resources.
Polling Support– Ability to set thresholds, gather temporal data,
graphs, etc.
– Customizable: views of data, resource graphs
Designed for more than strictly “network” management.
Examples– HP Openview
– Sun Solstice
– IBM Tivoli
Standard Interface
Resource-SpecificImplementation
Standard Interface
Resource-SpecificImplementation
Standard Interface
Resource-SpecificImplementation
Database
ResourceInterface Resource
InterfaceResourceInterface
Display / Graphs / Reports
Management System
Analysis / Threshold Monitors
ProtocolProtocol
Proxy Agent Proxy Agent Proxy Agent
April 18, 2023 14
HP Openview - ExampleHP Openview - Example
April 18, 2023 15
Network and Agent ManagementNetwork and Agent Management
Both solve similar problems.– Distributed resources
– Overload conditions
– Crashes
– Management of varying types of resources
But, differences exist.– Agent platforms are much more dynamic.
» Agent are created / destroyed at much higher rates than network nodes.
– No physical connections in agent platforms» “Logical” connections between agents via messages.
– Migration – No parallel in network management» Network is a static set of nodes.
April 18, 2023 16
AgentSNMP – GoalsAgentSNMP – Goals
Develop a formal set of agent management requirements.
– Based on FIPA agent platform specification.
Build an agent management system based on these requirements.
– Agent Platform MIB.
– Jade agent platform implementation.
Integrate with enterprise management system.– HP Openview
Demonstrate– Test the system with agent behavioral patterns and simulations.
April 18, 2023 17
AgentSNMP – RequirementsAgentSNMP – Requirements
Basic management tasks– Agent creation, deletion, migration, etc.
Track agent load, responsiveness– Must be able to detect agents that are “overloaded.”
Analyze agent communication patterns.
Track agent movement between hosts, platforms.
April 18, 2023 18
AgentSNMP – OverviewAgentSNMP – Overview
Agent platform is the “managed resource”– Proxy agent exposes standard interface to the platform.
Management software uses SNMP to communicate with proxy agent.
– Able to retrieve information about the platform via interface.
Management software is customized to display platform information visually.
– Plugin for HP Openview.
Standard Interface
Resource-SpecificImplementation
Standard Interface
Resource-SpecificImplementation
Standard Interface
Resource-SpecificImplementation
Database
ResourceInterface Resource
InterfaceResourceInterface
Display / Graphs / Reports
Management System
Analysis / Threshold Monitors
ProtocolProtocol
Proxy Agent Proxy Agent Proxy Agent
Standard Interface
Resource-SpecificImplementation
Proxy Agent
Jade
ResourceInterface
Protocol
April 18, 2023 19
AgentSNMP – ArchitectureAgentSNMP – Architecture
April 18, 2023 20
AgentSNMP – FIPA MIBAgentSNMP – FIPA MIB
SNMP interface to agent platform
Access to:– Hosts connected to platform
– Agents living on each host
– Messages sent between agents
– Higher-level patterns of agent communication
» Channels
– Load analysis of agents
Extensible
April 18, 2023 21
AgentSNMP – Proxy AgentAgentSNMP – Proxy Agent
Specific to Jade implementation.– Other platform implementations might require different proxy
agents designs.
Implements interface defined by FIPA MIB.– Maintains data structures that represent MIB objects.
Basic functionality:– Agent living on platform
» Necessary for Jade implementation
– Registers with AMS to receive information about platform events.
– Updates MIB data structures appropriately based on events.
April 18, 2023 22
AgentSNMP – MIB BrowserAgentSNMP – MIB Browser
Simple access to proxy agent interface.
Manipulate individual values in the MIB via SNMP.
Minimal polling, threshold, graphing support.
No customization.
April 18, 2023 23
AgentSNMP – MIB BrowserAgentSNMP – MIB Browser
April 18, 2023 24
AgentSNMP – HP OpenviewAgentSNMP – HP Openview
Takes advantage of Openview’s plugin capabilities
Translates events:– Platform events to Openview GUI events.
– Openview GUI events to SNMP requests for platform.
Displays threshold events graphically.– Openview threshold events to GUI events.
April 18, 2023 25
AgentSNMP – HP OpenviewAgentSNMP – HP Openview
Plugin Openview GUIGUI Event
GUI Command
Openview EventSubsystem
OV Event
Proxy Agent
SNMP Trap
SNMP Requests
April 18, 2023 26
AgentSNMP - ExampleAgentSNMP - Example
April 18, 2023 27
Management PatternsManagement Patterns
Simulate common patterns of agent communication.
Designed to be difficult to manage without a sophisticated management framework.
Examples– Client/Server pattern
» One server agent replies to requests made by some number of client agents.
– Agent Mobility pattern» Agents move from host to host, manager must keep track of their
locations.
April 18, 2023 28
Management Patterns (Client/Server)Management Patterns (Client/Server)
ServerServer
April 18, 2023 29
Management Patterns (Migration)Management Patterns (Migration)
Server “Proxy”Agent
April 18, 2023 30
Management PatternsManagement Patterns
15 clients
30 clients
April 18, 2023 31
SummarySummary
Uses well-researched, proven network management techniques.
Provides standard method for managing agent platforms.
– Performs basic management tasks.
– Detects overloaded agents.
– Monitors communication patterns between agents.
– Tracks agent mobility.
Integrates with industry-standard management tools.– HP Openview
April 18, 2023 32
Future WorkFuture Work
Add agent management to FIPA specification– All platform implementations would implement a standard
management scheme.
Alternative management protocols– SNMP is still standard.
– Others are gaining popularity and provide more sophisticated support.
April 18, 2023 33
QuestionsQuestions
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