Patterns in SNMP-Based Network Management

The current Internet management architecture (SNMP) focuses on network device management and low-level instrumentation data. A lot of activity is under way to replace or complement it with a solution covering enterprise management at large, which also includes the management of systems, applications, and services. In this exercise, the management community runs the risk of throwing the baby out wthe bath water, as too much emphasis is put on a few well-known problems in SNMP (e.g., its poor scalability), and too little on its other characteristics, including those that contributed to its success. One way to avoid this is to explicitly capture the experience gained in SNMP-based network management. In this paper, we make one step in this direction by studying the SNMP management architecture from a software engineering standpoint, and iden tifying in it some of the architectural and design patterns defined in the literature. By characterizing Internet network management in the lingua franca of patterns, we strive to help retain the strengths of SNMP in future management architectures and make it easier for new software engineers to move to Internet management.