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Java brings new opportunity to network management

Network applications development will become easier and cheaper with Java

By George Lawton, JavaWorld.com, 12/01/96

Page 2 of 4

The devices that will be managed will not be restricted to things like routers and switches. Mike Gionfriddo, architect for the Java Management APIs at SunSoft, pointed out that they are programming some of the devices to include personal digital assistants.

This type of framework also will make it easy to manage the Java terminals that, with the recent announcement of the JavaStation, will soon begin flooding corporate desktops. The servers will be able to keep track of any new configuration data that needs to be updated for different classes of users, as well as track changes to security policy. "Network naming service is a step in that direction. I see more and more management functionality pushed to the servers and the clients to be thinner and thinner," said Gionfriddo.

Tivoli is adapting its Tivoli Management Environment to support Java with a tool called net.TME. "Our initiative with the Internet and Java is much broader than just network management. We are viewing this as an opportunity for all sorts of distributed systems products," explained Mike Maples, director of product marketing at Tivoli.

One of the first new features for TME is support for a Web interface so that people can access management data from a browser. A centralized Java-based agent also has been developed that can collect data from different devices and graph it in different ways. "A lot of our customers have wanted to visualize their data better, and we are using Java to provide that functionality to customers," noted Maples.

Although Hewlett Packard has no plans to add Java support to its HP OpenView Network Management system, help is on the way for OpenView customers who wish to enable Java network management. UB Networks has announced a Web-based management system called NetDirector@Web. NetDirector has a component that turns an OpenView workstation into a Web server. The first components of NetDirector -- such as the node monitor and the real-time Java management applets -- already are available, and other components are planned for the near future.

"The big advantage is that we can create applications that are real-time information based, as opposed to more static HTML pages. In network management it is real important to see the status of the devices in real time," said Ron Morita, vice president of applications and UB networks at HP.

Although Java is used as the client interface and is used to configure the device, UB Network's approach still relies on SNMP to send information over the network. "Today we are talking about turning the network device into a Web server," said Morita. "In the future, we will put the Java virtual machine on the network device itself. These applications will execute inside the Web server and will be able to get information and take corrective action within the hub."

Morita believes Java management will create a number of opportunities for Java programmers. To begin with, companies will be able to leverage a single set of Java programmers to do a wider variety of tasks. In addition, it will make it possible for companies to integrate network management into other kinds of applications.

 

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