A Distributed Problem-Solving Infrastructure for Computer Network Management

A distributed computer network management system consisting of cooperating autonomous computing agents allows network management to be more responsive due to information gathering and network recovery activities being performed in parallel. However, to perform these tasks, the network of agents requires a stable organizational infrastructure. In addition, to meet the needs of human network administrators, the distributed system must allow ultimate authority to be centralized at a single location. Distributed Big Brother (DBB) represents a pragmatic blending of diverse technologies from the field of distributed AI, such as contract formation, organizational structuring, election for role assignment, and hierarchical control. The result is an infrastructure for a network management system in which separate agents reconfigure themselves when hardware and software failures occur in order to assure the authority structure demanded by network operators. Our efforts illustrate how integrating existing distributed AI technologies can meet realistic needs, and highlight open problems that require the development of new technologies.