A graph based model for survivability applications

Many problems found in standard security and survivability applications can be transformed into graph and scheduling problems, thereby opening up the problems to a wealth of potential solutions or knowledge of limitations, infeasibility, scalability or intractability. This paper introduces a model to aid in the design, analysis, or operations of applications with security and survivability concerns. Specifically, a five step model is presented that transforms such applications into a parameterized graph model that, together with model abstraction and representations, can be the basis for solutions derived from graph and scheduling algorithms. A reverse transformation translates the solutions back to the application domain. The model is demonstrated using migratory agent security and fault-tolerant agreement and their transformation into chain constrained and group scheduling problems, respectively. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.