Why Use Java Dynamic Management Technology?

Old Way – Network management is usually performed by large, centralized management applications. These management applications monitor and modify their network by tightly controlling their agents. The agents act as relays for the network resources they represent, translating commands and collecting raw data and status information. Agents are usually situated in or near the network elements they control, which means that these agents are limited in nature. They usually contain little management intelligence and can perform only basic network management operations.

New Way – A Java dynamic management agent exposes its resources in a standard way and provides management services directly at the resource level. These services provide the intelligence that enables agent applications to perform management tasks autonomously. This frees the management application from routine tasks such as polling and thus reduces the network load as well.

Old Way – From a wider perspective, existing management systems for networks and applications are implemented with diverse protocols and technologies. Developers must choose a single management technology for a portion of the target market. In some cases, developers might need to implement multiple management technologies to provide more complete coverage of their potential markets. Due to the limitations of both approaches, vendors frequently choose not to implement any management technology.

New Way – The interface to resources is standardized, meaning that device vendors and application developers can finally agree: they can use any technology they want. As long as management applications communicate through a Java dynamic management agent, they can access any resource.

The same flexibility applies to the management services that are deployed in the agents. Because they can control resources through standard interfaces, they are dynamically interchangeable. In order to upgrade the capabilities of a smart agent, new services can be downloaded and plugged in dynamically when they become available. Finally, the Java DMK provides a distributed model that is protocol independent. Management applications rely on the API, not on any one protocol.

The Java DMK brings new solutions to the management domain through:

• Compliance to the JMX specification, for managing Java objects through Java applications, as developed through the Java Community Process(^SM).

• A single suite of components that provides uniform instrumentation for managing systems, applications, and networks, and that provides universal access to these resources.

• A flexible architecture that distributes the management load and that can be upgraded in real time for the service-driven network.

The service-driven network is a new approach to network computing that concentrates on the services you want to provide. These range from the low-level services that manage relationships between network devices to the value-added services you provide to end users. These services drive your network and management needs. In addition, autonomous agent functionality makes it possible to manage a very large installed base.

With the Java dynamic management architecture, services can be incorporated directly into agents. Agents are given the intelligence to perform management tasks themselves, enabling management logic to be distributed throughout the whole network. New services can be downloaded from a web server at runtime using a dynamic pull mechanism. Services are not only implemented inside devices, but they can also be network-based, meaning that you can download them through simple web pages in the same way as Java technology-based applets.

This dynamic, on-demand paradigm means that it is no longer necessary to know what will need to be configured, managed, and monitored in the future or in advance of network deployment. Services will be created, enhanced and deployed as needed. This unique combination of features gives the Java DMK a wide domain of application as it integrates the current and future management standards.