Network Monitoring Session Description

Network Monitoring is a complex activity that is based on the coordination among distinct local activities: those that use monitoring results, those that implement monitoring activity, and other that act as intermediaries. We illustrate a comprehensive view of a Network Monitoring Architecture, starting from the demands of security and scalability, and define, to give a practical perspective to our investigation, the XML Schemas of the information exchanged between actors. We address scalability by introducing monitoring sessions activated on demand, with a declared preference for passive tools, and security by enforcing authenticated communications at every step. A scalable protocol for public key diffusion is introduced in a companion paper.