Research and Implementation of SNMP in ForCES Framework

ForCES (forwarding and control element separation) and associated protocols introduce a new architecture for construction of a distributed network element (e.g., distributed routers). ForCES makes requirements for the support of network management protocols like SNMP, while does not specify how the requirements are implemented. In this paper, design and implementation of SNMP-based network management in ForCES architecture are introduced. Several implementation modes of SNMP agent that are possible to be applied to ForCES architecture are proposed, and their individual features and the ability to meet ForCES requirements are analyzed. The modes include the monolithic agent mode, the proxy agent mode, and the AgentX mode. Moreover, a SNMP agent based on AgentX mode is implemented in a ForCES-based router. Experiments based on the implementation show that the AgentX agent satisfies all the ForCES network management requirements. It reaches a conclusion that the AgentX mode is the most feasible SNMP-based network management mode for ForCES architecture. Experiments also show the feasibility of ForCES MIB, which is under discussion in IETF ForCES work group. As a result, the implementation validates the feasibility for ForCES architecture to support SNMP, and helps the validation of related IETF ForCES protocols, hence contributes to the completion of the protocols.