 for XML-based RPC) is more popular. JAX-RPC has Java APIs for SOAP that uses SAAJ as an underlying layer. SOAP 1.2, which is most commonly used and based on XML infosets, has been used for the discussion in this chapter, compared to SOAP 1.1 that is based on serializations. SOAP 1.1 does not have a rich feature set in RPC and messaging and missing some of the functionalities defined in SOAP 1.2. Fundamentals of EMS, NMS and OSS/BSS 18.7 NETCONF A wide range of techniques were in use for configuring network elements and IETF formed the NETCONF Working Group to standardize network configuration to fix the disparity in current configuration techniques, each having its own specifi- cations for session establishment and data exchange. NETCONF protocol, as the name suggests, mainly deals with network configuration and provides the specifica- tions for configuration functions like installing, querying of information, editing, and deleting the configuration of network devices. NETCONF also offers trouble shooting functionality by viewing network information as faults and taking correc- tive action in the configuration. NETCONF is an XML-based protocol. Since it carries configuration informa- tion NETCONF inherently supports a secure infrastructure for communication. The NETCONF requests and responses are always sent over a persistent, secure, authenticated transport protocol like SSH. The use of encryption guarantees that the requests and responses are confidential and tamper-proof. Another security feature in NETCONF is the capability of network elements to track the client identities and enforce permissions associated with identities. Hence security is mostly implemented in the underlying transport layer and even the iden- tities are managed by SSH and then reported to the NETCONF agent to enforce the permissions imposed by the node. Two important concepts associated with NETCONF are its commands and datastores. Commands: NETCONF provides a "Base" set of commands to perform net- work configuration. This basic set can 