Fault prediction at the network layer using intelligent agents

Prediction of network failures at the router level has been achieved using an intelligent agent. The intelligent agent gathers relevant MIB data from the router and provides temporally and spatially correlated predictive alarms. The time correlated abnormal changes in the individual MIB variables are spatially correlated using a novel combining scheme. The agent was implemented on a real network and seven out of nine faults were predicted. Two typical case studies are presented. The prediction time was of the order of minutes