(Co-Authored)

ICICT 2004, Cairo, Egypt December 6-7, 2004.

Abstract: We report in this paper on a network simulator, which allows checking behavioural properties of a network prior to the real configuration of the network. Properties such as filtering strategies of firewalls, the correct functionality of DNS or DHCP servers, etc. can be tested using the simulator. In the presented approach, the entire network configuration and topology is represented as eXtensible Markup Language (XML) documents, which the simulator reads and operates on accordingly. After successful tests of the network using the simulator, the XML configuration description will be translated automatically into configuration files that are used to configure the concrete services present in the actual network. The translation will be performed using eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT).