Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Heinz-Gerd Hegering (TU München) and Dr. Metin Feridun (IBM Zurich Research Laboratory) for the opportunity to carry out the practical part of my thesis at IBM Zurich Research Laboratory.

Special thanks to Dr. Christian Hörtnagl for his excellent help and support accorded to me throughout my thesis. Furthermore, I thank Dipl.-Inform. Helmut Reiser for the constructive guidance he provided me.

Finally I wish to say thank you to all members of the Distributed Systems and Network Management Group for the pleasent and motivating atmosphere during my time at IBM.