MobileAgentConcepts

• 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.

• 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).

• 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.

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.

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