Implementing Policy in the Enterprise Network

1. Implementing Policy in the Enterprise Network Lewis IEEE Communications Magazine January 1996

2. Introduction • Policy in network management • In the early ‘70s • Monitoring and controlling the access rights of multiple users and resources in large distributed systems • Now • Configuration, accounting, fault, and performance management • A general policy framework is needed for controlling the behavior of the agents the enterprise network comprises, including network users, administrators, troubleshooters, applications running on the network, and operational parameters of the network hardware.

3. The Motivation for Policy Management • Policies are akin to rules that govern actions. • Household rules: • Kids have to be in bed by 8 p.m. • Dogs are not allowed on couches or beds • A person (or a group of persons) exercises control of the household: • makes up the rules, • monitors the domain to which the rules apply, • and takes appropriate actions when the rules are broken.

4. Small business organizations typically have no need for policies. • However, if the operation becomes increasingly complex, there develops a need to effect policies that govern the behavior of the employees. • With the advent of cooperative/distributed work among human and software agents, the concept of policy naturally extends to the government of human/computer and computer/computer interaction.

5. The dimensions of policy • The outside band approximates high-level policies. • The inner band suggests lower-level policies (the actual behavior of the network).

6. A Policy Framework

14. Implementing Policy in Configuration Management

15. Summary