Interaction translation methods for XML/SNMP gateway

Abstract

XML-based network management has been proposed as an alternative or to complement SNMP-based network management. But the XML-based network management does not yet provide a method to manage networks equipped with legacy SNMP agents in the integrated management system. This integrated management system must include an XML/SNMP gateway, which translates and relays messages between the XML-based manager and the SNMP agent. In this paper, we propose three methods for interaction translation in the gateway. First, we propose a DOM-based translation, which provides a method for XML-based manager to directly access management information through the standard DOM interfaces. Second, we propose an HTTP-based translation using URI extenstion with XPath and XQuery. Finally, we apply SOAP, which is accepted as a standard protocol for XML, and propose a translation method for the gateway to advertise the translation services to the manager using SOAP RPC. We also compare the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed translation methods.