Chapter 12: Network Management

Network management

the process of operating, monitoring, and controlling the network to ensure it works

Without a well-planned, designed, and organized network, operating the network becomes difficult. Network managers spend most of their time…

fixing issues with the network.

What do network managers do?

1) day-to-day operations of the network
2) provide support to network users
3) ensure the network is operating good
4) manage staff and budget
5) evaluate and acquire hardware, software, and services

Network managers have a ____ networking plan to meet goals. They know the latest _________ in computers, data, etc. They assist _____ in understanding business implications of network decisions.

strategic; technological developments; senior management

What are the three most important factors for designing network performance?

1) Managed networks
2) Managing network traffic
3) Reducing network traffic

What is the most important of the three factors for designing network performance?

Managed devices

Managed devices

standard devices, such as switches and routers, that have small onboard computers to monitor the traffic that flows through the device

What are the 3 additional capabilities of managed devices?

1) record data on the traffic they process
2) monitor the status of other devices and send an alarm message if they detect a critical issue
3) can be programmed to take action when certain events occur

A managed network required both _____ and ______

hardware; software

Device management software

designed to provide information about the specific devices on a network

system management software

same config., traffic, and error info as device management systems but can analyze the device information to diagnose patterns

Application management software

builds on the device management software. Instead of monitoring systems it monitors applications

What is an important problem in network management standards?

Ensuring hardware devices from different vendors can understand/respond to messages sent by the network management software of different vendors

Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)

Most commonly used network management protocol

Each SNMP device has an agent that collects info about itself and the messages it processes. It stores that information in a database called…

the management information base(MIB)

Most SNMP devices have the ability for…

remote monitoring (RMON)

Data is not transmitted to the central server until the ______ requests it. _______ is recorded based on the DLL, network, and application layer protocols.

network manager; network information

A special device called a _____ or ______ acts as a traffic manager at the front of the server farm

load balancer; virtual server

How does this load balancer/virtual server work?

When a request hits the load balancer, it is forwarded to one specific server. If the server then crashes, the load balancer stops sending requests to it

With ______ the network manager uses special software to set priority policies for network traffic. This is sometimes called application shaping or traffic shaping

policy-based management

The policy management is usually implemented as a combination of hardware and software

True

Policy-based management required managed devices that support _____ capabilities.

quality of service(QoS)

Reducing network traffic is a more radical approach to improving performance. Nevertheless, what are the three tools that this function uses.

1) Capacity management
2) Content caching
3) Content delivery

what do capacity management devices do?

monitor traffic and can slow down traffic from users who consume a lot of network capacity (bandwidth limiter or bandwidth shapers)

Where are capacity management devices installed?

At key points in the network such as between a backbone and core network

Content caching

Storing other peoples Web data closer to your use (usually in the content engine)

What does content caching enable in terms of an organization?

most content from the most commonly accessed sites will be stored. This reducing incoming/outgoing traffic, enabling the organization to purchase a smaller WAN circuit into the Internet

Content delivery

special type of Internet service that works in the opposite direction, storing Web files for its clients closer to their potential users.

What are the two sections of configuration management?

1) Configuring the network and client computers
2) Documenting the configuration

What is the most common configuration activity today?

Adding and deleting user accounts and updating the software on the client computers attached to the network

Desktop management

Enables network managers to install software on client computers over the network without physically touching each client computer (reduces cost of config. management over the long term)

Configuration documentation includes info about what?

1) network hardware and software
2) user and application profiles
3) network documentation

(diagrams for each network component)

Performance management

ensures the network is operating as efficiently as possible

(requires network monitoring)

Fault management

Preventing, detecting, and correcting faults in the network circuits, hardware, and software

(requires network monitoring)

Why is performance tracking important for network monitoring?

Allows the network manager to be proactive and respond to performance problems before users begin to complain

Failure control

requires developing a central control philosphy

Software packages that record fault information produce reports known as.

Problem tracking

allows the network manager to determine who is responsible for correcting any out

Problem statistics are important because…

they are a control device for the network managers as well as for the vendors

Problem prioritizing

helps ensure that critical problems get priority over others

Management reports are required to…

determine network availability, product/vendor reliability and vendor responsiveness

Availability

percentage of time the network is available to users

Downtime

includes times when the network is unavailable because of faults and routine maintenance and network upgrades

Mean time between failures(MTBF)

number of hours or days of continuous operation before a component fails

Mean time to repaid (MTTR)

average number of minutes or hours until the failed device/circuit is operational again

Mean time to diagnose(MTTD)

the average number of minutes until the root cause of the failure is correctly diagnosed

Mean time to respond(MTTR)

the average number of minutes or hours until service personnel arrive at the problem location

Mean time to fix(MTTF)

tells how quickly the staff is able to correct the problem after they arrive

What are the 3 main functions within end user support?

1) Resolving network faults
2) Resolving user problems
3) Training

Problems with user equipment step from these 3 major sources

1) A failed hardware device
2) A lack of user knowledge
3) A problem with the software, its settings, or an incompatibility.

End user training is the responsbility of the _______. Training is conducted through classes, one-on-one instruction, or online courses.

network manager

The most challenging area of network management recently has been cost management. This is because of…

data traffic growing more rapidly that network management budget

Total cost of ownership (TCO)

measure of how much it costs per year to keep one computer operating(~ $7000)

Network cost of ownership(NCO)

or real TCO ignore indirect costs (~ $1500 - 3500 per computer per year)

Personnel time is the largest cost. Primary focus of cost managment is minimizing personnel time

True

What are other ways of reducing network costs?

1) standard hardware/software config. for client computers/server
2) Automate network management
3) Work with vendors so you don’t have to install new hardware/software
4) Centralize help desks
5) move to thin-client or cloud-based

Remote computers can be reset to a ______ to minimize the impact of the break in

stored image