Automatic translation of contracts to policies in policy-based networks

1. A method for managing a network, the method comprising:

receiving, at a network that uses a component based architecture, at least one contract comprising one or more components, wherein the contract is a collection of fundamental behaviors with each behavior being further refined and/or protected by a set of operations associated with the contract;

mapping a first operation in the set of operations associated with the contract to a policy rule event associated with at least one policy rule;

mapping a second operation in the set of operations associated with the contract to at least one policy rule condition associated with the policy rule;

mapping a third operation in the set of operations associated with the contract to a policy rule action associated with the policy rule wherein the policy rule action triggers an implementation of at least one other policy rule, wherein the policy rule action is associated with the policy rule event of the other policy rule; and

mapping a fourth operation in the set of operations associated with the contract to a policy rule condition associated with the other policy rule;

wherein the first operation is an invocation operation, wherein the invocation operation is one of a remote and local request for execution of a service;

wherein the second operation is a precondition operation, wherein the precondition operation specifies parameters that must be true for a method to be called;

wherein the third operation is a functional behavior operation, wherein a functional behavior specifies a set of actions to be performed based on the invocation operation; and

wherein the fourth operation is a post-condition operation, wherein the post-condition operation specifies what is to occur when the method successfully completes.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving a request to invoke functionality as defined by the contract;

analyzing the policy rule condition, which is associated with the functionality by the mapping of the second operation to the policy rule condition;

determining, in response to the analyzing, if the policy rule condition has been satisfied; and

returning an exception in response to the policy rule condition failing to be satisfied.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

determining that the policy rule condition has been satisfied; and

allowing the request to invoke functionality in response to the policy rule condition being satisfied.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising:

instantiating the other policy rule in response to the request to invoke functionality being allowed.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising:

analyzing the policy rule condition associated with the other policy rule;

determining, in response to the analyzing, if the policy rule condition associated with the other policy rule has been satisfied; and

returning an exception in response to the policy rule condition failing to be satisfied.

6. The method of claim 4 further comprising:

determining, in response to the analyzing, that the policy rule condition associated with the other policy rule has been satisfied; and

returning a result associated with allowing the request to invoke functionality in response to the policy rule condition associated with the other policy rule having been satisfied.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising:

monitoring an invariant associated with the contract in response to the request to invoke functionality being allowed; and

monitoring the invariant associated with the contract in response to the policy rule condition associated with the other policy rule having been satisfied.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein a component is a unit of independent deployment, is a unit of third party composition, and possesses a non-persistent state.

9. An information processing system for managing a network, the information processing system comprising:

a memory;

a processor communicatively coupled to the memory; and

a network manager communicatively coupled to the memory and the processor, wherein the network manager is adapted to:

receive, at a network that uses a component based architecture, at least one contract comprising one or more components, wherein the contract is a collection of fundamental behaviors with each behavior being further refined and/or protected by a set of operations associated with the contract;

map a first operation in the set of operations associated with the contract to a policy rule event associated with at least one policy rule;

map a second operation in the set of operations associated with the contract to at least one policy rule condition associated with the policy rule;

map a third operation in the set of operations associated with the contract to a policy rule action associated with the policy rule wherein the policy rule action triggers an implementation of at least one other policy rule, wherein the policy rule action is associated with the policy rule event of the other policy rule; and

map a fourth operation in the set of operations associated with the contract to a policy rule condition associated with the other policy rule;

wherein the first operation is an invocation operation, wherein the invocation operation is one of a remote and local request for execution of a service;

wherein the second operation is a precondition operation, wherein the precondition operation specifies parameters that must be true for a method to be called;

wherein the third operation is a functional behavior operation, wherein a functional behavior specifies a set of actions to be performed based on the invocation operation; and

wherein the fourth operation is a post-condition operation, wherein the post-condition operation specifies what is to occur when the method successfully completes.

10. The information processing system of claim 9 wherein the network manager is further adapted to:

receive a request to invoke functionality as defined by the contract;

analyze the policy rule condition, which is associated with the functionality by the mapping of the second operation to the policy rule condition;

determine, in response to the analyzing, if the policy rule condition has been satisfied;

return an exception in response to the policy rule condition failing to be satisfied;

allow the request to invoke functionality in response to the policy rule condition being satisfied; and

instantiate the other policy rule in response to the request to invoke functionality being allowed.

11. The information processing system of claim 10 wherein the network manager is further adapted to:

analyze the policy rule condition associated with the other policy rule;

determine, in response to the analyzing, if the policy rule condition associated with the other policy rule has been satisfied;

return an exception in response to the policy rule condition failing to be satisfied; and

return a result associated with allowing the request to invoke functionality in response to the policy rule condition associated with the other policy rule having been satisfied.

12. The information processing system of claim 11 wherein the network manager is further adapted to:

monitor an invariant associated with the contract in response to the request to invoke functionality being allowed; and

monitor the invariant associated with the contract in response to the policy rule condition associated with the other policy rule having been satisfied.

13. The information processing system of claim 10 wherein a component is a unit of independent deployment, is a unit of third party composition, and possesses a non-persistent state.