MAGMA a liquid software approach to fault tolerance, computer network security, and survivable

Abstract

The Next Generation Internet (NGI) will address increased multi-media Internet service demands, requiring consistent Quality of Service (QoS), similar to the legacy phone system. Server Agent-based Active network Management (SAAM) acts like a rush-hour traffic reporting helicopter. Upon routing request arrivals, SAAM server determines the best, least traffic/resistance route and assembles the routing path, freeing up ¡ʹlight-weight¡· routers to provide faster, more reliable, forwarding services. The SAAM server is a critical network node; therefore, it is imperative to make it extremely robust. With Margulis Agent-Based Mobile Application (MAGMAà EÌ ) liquid software, a SAAM server agent will remain inactive in resident memory of each router until it is stimulated by a message from the departing server. Then the agent will begin running a new server at a starting point determined from the prior server¡Šs recent state information or a pre-determined point if that state information is not available. MAGMAà EÌ will provide SAAM an increased fault tolerance and security against malicious attacks. Liquid software research has taken place since 1996 (University of Arizona/University of Pennsylvania); however, there is no known application currently providing fault tolerance and system security. In this thesis, the foundation for a mobile SAAM server was developed, with the researcher being able to manually move the server from one host to the next. Furthermore, this thesis designed a protocol thatcompresses critical state information, providing condensed messages to efficiently configure the next SAAM server across the network with the state information from the departing server extracts critical state information from the current server and periodically transports a compressed form of the state information to potential next SAAM servers in the network. MAGMAà EÌ will provide a revolution in today¡Šs computer fault tolerance and security paradigms, benefiting industry through more survivable networks with guaranteed QoS.