NETWORK MANAGEMENT Managing a network.s hardware, applications, and performance. Overview Network management is a broad term describing platforms and applications that can manage the various devices and software that constitute a network. This includes such general tasks as . Monitoring, measuring, and optimizing the performance of routers, switches, access servers, multiplexers, Web servers, mail servers, and other network devices and hardware. . Detecting, diagnosing, repairing, working around, and predicting the likelihood of failures and other problems. . Installing, upgrading, patching, distributing, configuring, managing, monitoring, and troubleshooting operating systems and applications on servers, desktop workstations, routers, and other hardware. This is often called desktop or systems management. Network management may also involve . Mapping the topology of a network in real time through autodiscovery and graphically displaying this information in useful form to administrators. . Maintaining a central inventory database describing all devices, operating systems, and software on the network and how they are configured. When a change is made to the configuration of a device or application, the database is updated with the information automatically. . Setting alarms and establishing automated responses to various alert conditions when they arise. These alerts may relate to device failure, traffic bottlenecks, server overload, and other problems. . Remotely adding, removing, or rearranging local area network (LAN) and wide area network (WAN) links, a process called configuration management. . Monitoring a network against intrusion by hackers and other attacks. . Taking remote control of systems to manage, repair, or troubleshoot them. . Monitoring service level agreements with vendors and service providers. . Using artificial intelligence to determine the root cause of network failure and perform needed fixes automatically. . Generating real-time and cumulative logs and reports of network performance, traffic flow, server load, and other information. These can be for auditing, management, planning, troubleshooting, or provisioning purposes. . Managing different aspects of a network from workstations, using standard Web browsers, and even using wireless Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). . Perform policy-based management of network resources and traffic prioritization, a rapidly emerging new area in network management. Implementation Most network management platforms employ a combination of proprietary solutions and standards-based usage of Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) and its cousin Remote Monitoring (RMON). Other standards from the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) and Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) are important also, particularly Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) and the emerging Policy Framework and SNMPConf initiatives. Network management platforms support these existing and emerging standards to various degrees. Network management can be accomplished in several ways: . Using prepackaged tools included with network operating systems such as Microsoft Windows and UNIX: For example, Windows 2000 includes administrative tools such as Performance Monitor, Network Monitor, Computer Management, and other utilities that can be used to remotely monitor, manage, and troubleshoot server and network problems. Command-line tools such as Ping, Ipconfig, Tracert/Traceroute, Netstat, Nslookup, and others are also available on both Microsoft and UNIX platforms for configuring and troubleshooting Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/ IP) networks. Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) and Telnet are often used for remote management of Cisco routers and other networking equipment from a command-line interface. . Using enterprise network management frameworks: These are suites of tools integrated to various degrees that enable (or promise to enable) administrators to remotely manage all aspects of a diverse, heterogeneous network from a central administrator console. Many of these systems began in the 1980s as organic collections of tools united by a common user interface (admin console) and back-end database (for storing network configuration information). They were large, complex, expensive, and difficult to implement, often requiring a great deal of customization to work properly and never quite living up to their marketed goals. Such systems were targeted mainly to large enterprises having deep pockets and have found wide acceptance in such environments to this day. This failure to fulfill customer expectations was partly a result of the rapid pace of technological evolution in operating system and networking technologies, with the result that vendors of such network management systems had difficulty keeping up with the pace of change in these technologies. Many of these systems have now evolved into one-size-fits-all packaged management systems that are easier to deploy and use but which are more limited in their goals. Some framework vendors have also made their systems extensible to allow third-party point products to fill gaps in their framework products. Popular examples of these types of frameworks are listed below in the section entitled .Marketplace.. . Using loose collections of freeware and open source network management tools: Network administrators of small to mid-sized companies often create their own custom toolkit of useful management tools and utilities developed in-house or downloaded from the Internet and used for monitoring, configuring, and troubleshooting networks and servers. Using such diverse collections of tools, however, requires a high level of understanding of how networks actually work and how they ought to work and requires the discipline of implementing proper procedures and processes for maximum benefit. . Outsourcing network management needs: Small companies often benefit from outsourcing all of their network management needs to a network/systems integrator, who often can remotely manage network performance and troubleshoot server problems by means of the Internet using browser-based tools. Larger companies may outsource only specific portions of their management needs, such as allowing telcos to remotely monitor the channel service unit/data service units (CSU/DSUs) and T1 multiplexers that they lease to the customers. Outsourcing is a viable option for companies that do not have the resources to hire their own qualified network personnel. Whatever the approach used for managing networks, most companies do not make this a high enough priority or allocate sufficient resources (in terms of both staff and money) to this aspect of their business as they do for their deployments of enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) software. If a company.s customer and product data and communication/collaboration abilities are important and must be safeguarded and maintained at all costs, then safeguarding and maintaining the network on which information is stored and over which it travels should be an equally high priority, whatever the cost. Marketplace Network management frameworks for enterprise use are available from both traditional vendors and newer startups. Traditional vendors include Tivoli/IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Computer Associates, BMC Software, and several others. Tivoli Enterprise is a suite of platforms and tools providing desktop, network, storage, security, service, Web, and performance management. Tivoli products are available for a wide range of network operating systems, including Microsoft Windows, UNIX, and IBM.s OS/390 mainframe platform. Tivoli even has a product line supporting end-to-end management of retail solutions that include point-of-sale terminals and automated teller machines (ATMs). They also have one for managing Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), a rapidly growing concern in the enterprise environment. Tivoli software is used by 96 percent of Fortune 500 companies and is probably the most widely used management framework in enterprise environments. IBM.s earlier NetView management platform is also integrated into the Tivoli line of products. Another popular framework product is HP OpenView from Hewlett-Packard. Sun Microsystems also offers a management platform called Sun NetManager for their SunOS and Solaris machines. VERITAS Software Corporation is another contender in the enterprise arena with their Veritas NerveCenter.other vendors include Aprisma, NextPoint Networks, Lucent Technologies, and others. Finally, Microsoft has Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) that provides enterprise-class event and application monitoring for the Windows 2000 and Windows .NET Server operating systems, and .NET Server application platforms. Microsoft Systems Management Server is popular in the enterprise as a server, desktop, and applications management system. So is LANDesk Management Suite from Intel Corporation and Unicenter TNG from Computer Associates. Windows 2000 also supports a number of networking application programming interfaces (APIs) that allow information about network resources to be programmatically accessed, and some Active Directory Services Interface (ADSI) interfaces also provide similar functionality for script access. Some vendors of point products that fill specific gaps in the management functionality of framework platforms include Concord Communications, Micromuse, River- Soft Technologies, Tavve Software, and many others. A good example is CiscoWorks, which can be installed as an add-in for popular management frameworks such as HP OpenView and Sun NetManager. A number of startups provide point products providing root-cause analysis, automated event correlation, and other features previously lacking in big-name framework products. These startups include Evidian, Oxydian, Magnum Technologies, and many others. Policy-based management tools include Cisco QoS Policy Manager from Cisco Systems and Orchestream Enterprise Edition from Orchestream. Application monitoring and performance tools include EcoSCOPE from Compuware Corporation, NextPoint S3 from NextPoint Networks, eHealth from Concord Communications, VitalSuite from Lucent Technologies, and many others. The most popular remote control software used in enterprise systems management is undoubtedly PCAnywhere from Symantec Corporation. The Terminal Services component of Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows .NET Server offers out-of-the-box remote control functionality for these operating systems. Citrix RMS from Citrix Systems is another network management tool that includes remote control. Network probes are growing in popularity as weapons in the network manager.s arsenal. These probes are small SNMP-enabled devices that can be plugged into a WAN demarcation point or LAN segment to monitor network traffic and collect statistics for network management stations. Management of Linux systems can be easily performed using Volution, a platform from Caldera International designed for large enterprises, application service providers (ASPs), Internet service providers (ISPs), and similar companies that may use large numbers of Linux machines. Volution is based on Red Hat Package Manager (RPM) technology and supports a number of major Linux distributions. Also in the open source arena, an initiative called OpenNMS was acquired by Atipa Technologies and rebranded as the Bluebird network management platform. Bluebird is available under the open-source license. A good overview on network management standards and free software can be found at www.simpleweb.org.