Network topology configuration management experience report

Abstract

Sprint started working with the TINA-C recommendations in 1996. In 1998 it deployed connection manager (CM), a provisioning system in support of Sprint ION, which used the network resource architecture (NRA) as its software blueprint. The initial scope of CM includes provisioning of ATM and ATM-transported services of voice, IP, and frame relay. In this paper we focus on how CM used and extended the network topology configuration management (NTCM) model to represent physical resources, their capabilities, and the rules for their allocation. Our experience with the following concepts are explored: usage of administrative and management domains, modeling of capabilities of actual devices, support for bandwidth and address management, and representation of interworking functions between technologies.