Middleware design issues for application management in heterogeneous networks

With the increase of the heterogeneity of the Internet and the complexity of distributed computing, application management is facing more and more sophisticated requirements. In a dynamic, synergistic, and geographically broad environment, cross-domain resource management is becoming an important factor for application quality of service. We present a middleware architecture and initial implementation of that middleware that satisfies applications according to expected requirements, application service level agreement and distributed networked resources in and beyond the local environment. The networked resources are grouped in a hierarchical manner and their usage is optimized through the resource management system. This framework presents the same interface for any given resource type, with only the parameters changing to reflect that resources' specific requirements. This system enables interoperability, dynamic service discovery, and management functions such as monitoring, controlling and reporting, and dynamic reconfiguration and management.