Contributions Astrolog consists of a set of servers and managers communicating with SNMP agents located on the managed network elements. Servers communicate with SNMP agents to collect management information and store this information either in a database or in files. Managers provide the client side of management applications through a Web interface. The number of servers depends on the size of the network. Managers allow operators to do their work through any workstation.
Managers are equally intelligent and act as domain managers being in charge of part of the network.
The major advantage of Astrolog approach is that the management environment is highly portable and cost-effective. The Web interface provide a uniform interface on any operating system running a browser. Astrolog favours the integration of existing scripts and facilitates adding of new functionalities as it is highly configurable. The MNM is a manager executing on a portable computer which can be connected to the managed network through a phone line or by a wireless network. To cope with frequent disconnections, communication costs and poor resources of portable computers, management functions are implemented using the mobile agent technology.