Active Network Monitoring and Control: The SENCOMM Architecture and Implementation

We present the architecture, design, and implementation of a Smart Environment for Network Control, Monitoring and Management (SENCOMM). SENCOMM uses active network technology to comprise a Management Execution Environment (SMEE), which coexists with other execution environments (EEs). Management applications, called smart probes, run in the SMEE. A probe and its data are mobile executable code that are delivered to the active node within an Active Network Encapsulation Protocol (ANEP) datagram. Our architecture is designed to actively control, monitor, and manage both conventional and active networks, and be incrementally deployed in existing networks. We present a set of goals, a design philosophy, and a set of basic requirements for controlling, monitoring, and managing networks using active network technology. We discuss the operation and components of SENCOMM: the management EE, a protocol, smart probes, and loadable libraries. We discuss the implementation issues uncovered in integrating SENCOMM into a selected EE and the decisions made to resolve them.