A Case-Based Reasoning Approach for Automated Management in Policy-Based Networks

Policy-based networking technologies have been introduced as a promising solution to the problem of management of QoS-enabled networks. However, the potentials of these technologies have not been fully exploited yet. This paper proposes a novel policy-based architecture for autonomous self-adaptable network management. The proposed framework utilizes case-based reasoning (CBR) paradigms for online creation and adaptation of policies. The contribution of this work is two fold; the first is a novel guided automated derivation of network level policies from high-level business objectives. The second contribution is allowing for automated network level policy refinement to dynamically adapt the management system to changing requirements of the underlying environment while keeping with the originally imposed business objectives. We show how automated policy creation and adaptation can enhance the network services by making network components behavior more responsive and customizable to users’ and applications requirements.