Opening network services for management

The paper introduces a generic object model that makes instances of a network service accessible to the management system. This way, an open interface between the service delivery and the service management systems is defined. The model includes a set of cooperating objects that can be customized for particular service and management requirements. By applying this model to the design of mcast, an ATM multicast service, the authors enable the management system to monitor and control mcast sessions. To validate their approach, they have implemented mcast and the management functions on two different platforms: (1) on a high-performance emulation platform, which allows one to study the system's dynamic behavior and scaling properties in various scenarios; (2) on a broadband testbed running xbind, on which network services can be fully implemented, including the transport between multimedia devices. CORBA technology is used for building the service control system as well as the management system.