From Active Networks to Cognitive Networks

1. From Active Networks to Cognitive Networks Manolis Sifalakis m.sifalakis@lancaster.ac.uk University of Lancaster

2. Overview • The Vision: Cognitive Networks (a long term aim) • Motivation: Case scenario(s) • Structure • Fundamental requirements • The role of Active Networks • A Service Deployment Toolkit (a short term objective) • Key principals • Toolkit functionality • The benefits • Example deployment Dahstuhl Seminar 04411

3. Part A – The Vision: Cognitive Networks • A new generation of service networks • Properties: • Cognitive actions based on Reasoning • Autonomic operation • Adaptive functionality • Self Manageability • Aims: • Resilient servicing • Service Dependability … (even when hardware fails) Dahstuhl Seminar 04411

4. Case Scenario: Weekend DoS Attack • Problem Description • Scientists run lengthy experiments using network resources throughout the weekend • Administrators not working in weekends • DoS attack launched on Fri night • No support & service disruption for 3 (at least) days • Observation • The vast majority of attacks today are recipe style and follow specific patterns • Cognitive Solution • “Train” a classification system to detect the attack patterns • Find a suitable software to respond to the attack detection • Use active networks to dynamically deploy/upgrade the “defence system” whenever/wherever needed Dahstuhl Seminar 04411

5. Case Scenario: Roaming Multimedia User • Problem Description • Mobile user attends a confidential videoconference • At every visited network needs sustainable media quality and security services • Some or all of these services, cannot be available in every network and on a per user basis • Cognitive solution • Provide a set of basic active service components for proxy, encryption, anonymizing, MPLS, and transcoding • Develop an “intelligent” personalised agent • to “sense”/investigate the visited environment and • combine and deploy the modules in correct order and correct locations • Use active networks to deploy them dynamically wherever/whenever required Dahstuhl Seminar 04411

6. Case Scenario: Sensor Network Deployment • Problem Description • Randomly laid semi-mobile devices • Collection of environmental data in a natural catastrophes sensitive environment • Need for auto-configuration, integration in the mesh, reliable, secure & safe exchange of data • Varying environmental conditions impact the network performance • Different network setups perform better in different environments => need for adaptive solutions • Cognitive solution • Use some AI-based context aware elements to detect & assess the environment changes & select suitable protocol suites and network configurations • Design a p2p system for the synchronisation and coupling of the network devices at the service level • Use active networks for the on-line and dynamic configuration and update of the coupling elements and control service modules Dahstuhl Seminar 04411

7. The Key Technologies • A combination of • A.I. strategies • Policy enforcement systems • (Mobile) agent technologies • Active & Programmable networks • P2P systems • Semantic based services/languages/tools • Context aware services • … etc Dahstuhl Seminar 04411

8. How ? … A Layered Structure • Cognition is twofold: • User Servicing • Network Management • Active Networks: • Collection of information • Action implementation Dahstuhl Seminar 04411

9. Fundamental Requirement • Key Requirement: • Decoupling of service management from infrastructure management • More persistent service provisioning even when the underlying infrastructure fails • Active Networks seem to be the definite enabling technology to satisfy the requirement • On-line adaptability • Programmability • Dynamic service (de/re-)composition Dahstuhl Seminar 04411

10. Problems in Active Network Research • Multiple diverse platforms – Non interoperable! • Many specialised architectures – Almost none generic enough!(maybe FAIN in the future ?) • Several implementations – Most still in the lab! • Several applications – Few that necessitate the use of active/programmable technologies • Lack of frameworks for large scale and multi-platform deployment • Security issues and complexity in management and administration • Funding seems to be gradually finishing…!!! Dahstuhl Seminar 04411

11. Part B – A Toolkit for Generic Service Deployment • A collection of low-level & lightweight tools (active services). • Main Objectives: • Assist the large-scale deployment and interoperability of active resources (services, platforms, EEs, etc). • Enable decoupling and abstraction of active service deployment from infrastructure management • Key Functionalities: • Determine the interfacing between active resources (platforms, protocols, service components) • Discover and recruit active nodes • Deploy active service components • Assist the organisation and management of composite services provisioning Dahstuhl Seminar 04411

12. Active Node Discovery & Recruitment • Organisation of global active resources in 2-level overlay topology for control path comm. (discovery, allocation, coordination) • Intradomain (intra-AS) • Interdomain (Inter-AS) • Full functionality at each level independently • Designated Active Nodes are the connecting links between the 2-levels • Interdomain level interconnectivity follows the AS connectivity pattern • Distributed network pool model: Active nodes that cannot serve more requests, leave the overlay • Issues • Dynamic, automatic & optimal formation of the intradomain overlay • Automatic (s)election of the designated node • Interdomain connectivity when non active network enabled AS is interjected • Handling of overlay partitioning Dahstuhl Seminar 04411

13. An Active Proxy … well, why not many of them • An active service per se • Role: • abstract the service rollout process, • decouple the service “acquisition” from the service deployment • Available to users through intradomain multicast/anycast • Benefits: • Single point of trust and control • Offload the end node from the service rollout instrumentation Dahstuhl Seminar 04411

14. Unified Active Service Deployment • Need for a generic and abstract service deployment interface • Allocate resources • (Un-)Install Services • (Re-)Configure service provisioning • (De-)Activate servicing • Must abstract any platform-specific service loading mechanism • ASDP protocol. Ongoing work on a newer version. Dahstuhl Seminar 04411

15. Organisation & Management of Service Composites • Cooperating service components organise in p2p overlays for signalling and control path management • P2P systems use application level (i.e. e2e) performance inefficient solutions • A dynamic kernel level tunnelling mechanism • Performance efficient, dynamic, low level p2p overlay construction • Application (service) specific routing at kernel level • Unified API shared by all active applications Dahstuhl Seminar 04411

16. Active Service Mobility Framework • Mobilisation/migration of running active service components between active nodes • Benefits: • Resists infrastructure failures, • Enhances user mobility • Adapts to network weather changes • Based on the programmable switch approach • Combines strengths and overcomes limitations of active capsule and mobile agent technologies: • Low level forwarding path programmability • Out-of-band deployment and management • Also considered in FAIN but not implemented(?) Dahstuhl Seminar 04411

17. How they all fit together… in one EE Dahstuhl Seminar 04411

18. An Example: DoS Detection/Interception Service • Toolkit functionality: • Distributed, (semi-)mobile agent service • Migrating sensor elements (Sx) use the service mobility framework • Agent modules (C, Sx, F) form a p2p group (control path coordination) using the dynamic kernel tunnelling service • Active resource availability checked thru the global network overlay of active resources • Requests for service deployment, serviced by active proxies • Installation and activation of service components uses the unified active service deployment interface • Cognitive logic • Resource mgmt level (Active Proxies: what/where to deploy w.r.t. service specification) • Service level (recognition and classification of traffic patterns and counteraction) Dahstuhl Seminar 04411

19. Related Work • Mainly from ETH ... But elsewhere as well • Chameleon • Netkit • FAIN • Alpine • Etc … • They focus mainly at the interfacing and deploying servicing elements (within a platform) • We try to address problems at a lower level: Interfacing and cooperation between platforms • Both complementary as well as necessary Dahstuhl Seminar 04411

20. Conclusions • The road to CognitiveNet-Shire passes from the ActiveNet-Land  • It’s a long way and there is still lots of space for research • Large scale deployment of active nodes (coordination & organisation) • Platform interoperability • Security • Dynamic (on-line) service composition • … etc • Lots of applications: • User mobility, • Ad-hoc & sensor networks, • Network/service self-management, auto-configuration, survivability • …etc • Need more …imagination, vision & funding !!!  Dahstuhl Seminar 04411