Summary
The use of mobile agents suggests a new architecture for network management systems.
A network manager is seen to be a collection of problem-oriented management applications.
Each management application is small and focussed.
Each management application will perform its duties by launching and communicating with mobile intelligent agents.
Mobile agents have the capability to standardize or customize the manager’s interaction with the network components, and to minimize manager involvement by assuming the authority to autonomously perform jobs.
The Network Browser is a mobile agent implementation of network model discovery.
The network model is one view of the network, defined in terms of topology or status.
Discovery netlets compose a network model that is selective, dynamic and customizable.
When equipped, a Discovery Netlet can act as an autonomous handyman, shifting the focus of the Network Browser from browsing components to fixing problems.