Interaction Translation Methods for XML/SNMP Gateway

XML-based network management has been proposed as an alternative or to complement SNMPbased 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 manage ment system must include an XML/SNMP gateway, which translates and relays messages between the XML-based manager and the SNMP agent. The gateway must provide both specification translation and interaction translation between the two management applications. 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 a URI extension based translation using XPath and XQuery, which provides a method to define detailed request message for XML/HTTP communication. Finally, we apply the 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 the SOAP RPC. We also compare the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed translation methods.