Network Autonomic Management: A Tutorial with Conceptual, Functional and Practical Issues

Computer networks are infrastructures largely used by our society supporting a broad range of applications. In effect, computer networks are diverse in terms of their scale, complexity, heterogeneity and application scenario (industrial, corporate, academic, telecommunications, sensors, domestic, mobile, smart grids, body networks, others). As such, network management became a challenging research issue mainly due to the fact that applications and services must be integrated with rather diverse requirements. The manager is another relevant and evolving aspect that has been considered by new OAM (Operation, Administration and Management) solutions. As a matter of fact, autonomic network management is a trend in the network management research area and the main focus is, in brief, to facilitate the network management task in a scenario of inherent complexity. As such, the autonomic management approach presents challenges that must be evaluated and understood. This tutorial explores the autonomic network management fundamentals which must be considered whenever any specific technical approach is conceived. In brief, the tutorial explores the state of the art, architecture, requirements and, in general, the strategic approaches that are commonly used in an autonomic management solution for networks in different utilization scenarios.