Mobility
- Strong Mobility - Code and data is transfered to host, i.e. control is transferred to host. Associated strongly with scripting capability rather than simply object transfers.
- Weak Mobility - Only data is transfered. Associated with the transfer of Java code to a virtual machine. Primarily does not allow for mid-execution code transfer.
- Proxy server - Maintains state of the system by having a repository for all files and therefore a 'system state'.
- No proxy server - There exists no universal location for files.
Languages
- Java class libraries - Take advantage of Java's universal virtual machine (Aglet, concordia, Voyager, Grasshopper, D'Agents).
- Scritpting Languages - Take advantage of interpreted languages (D'Agents, ARA, Tacoma).
Security
- It is not clear that the security problems are as an important issue as researchers tend to claim. There is a requirement for basic security that in some circumstances can be controlled through the design of systems in controlled company intranets.
- There are 3 common types of threats:
- An agent can be malicious to the host.
- Host can be malicious to the agent.
- Agent can cause havoc to the network.
- Two approaches for security:
- Authentication using X509 certificates.
- Encryption using SSL.
Naming Scheme
Name addressing for an agent is an important concept. The naming scheme has to keep track of <B, "TR", 17>:
- B - A machine name.
- TR - An agent's symbolic name.
- 17 - An 'ID' that the host gives to the agent.
[SoftwareAgentCourse | MobileAgents | MobileAgentComponents]
(last edited November 25, 1999)
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