Network Management Fundamentals

Table of contents

1. Copyright
   1. Dedications
2. About the Author
3. About the Technical Reviewers
4. Acknowledgments
5. Icons Used in This Book
6. Command Syntax Conventions
7. Introduction
8. Who Should Read This Book?
9. How This Book Is Organized
10. I. Network Management: An Overview
    1. 1. Setting the Stage
       1. Defining Network Management
          1. Analogy 1: Health Care—the Network, Your Number One Patient
          2. Analogy 2: Throwing a Party
          3. A More Formal Definition
       2. The Importance of Network Management: Many Reasons to Care
          1. Cost
          2. Quality
          3. Revenue
       3. The Players: Different Parties with an Interest in Network Management
          1. Network Management Users
             1. The Service Provider
             2. The Enterprise IT Department
             3. The End User
          2. Network Management Providers
             1. The Equipment Vendor
             2. The Third-Party Application Vendor
             3. The Systems Integrator
       4. Network Management Complexities: From Afterthought to Key Topic
          1. Technical Challenges
             1. Application Characteristics
                1. Transaction-Based System Characteristics
                2. Interrupt-Driven System Characteristics
                3. Number-Crunching System Characteristics
             2. Scale
             3. Cross-Section of Technologies
                1. Information Modeling
                2. Databases
                3. Distributed Systems
                4. Communication Protocols
                5. User Interfaces
                6. Other Considerations
          2. Integration
          3. Organization and Operations Challenges
             1. Functional Division of Tasks
             2. Geographical Distribution
             3. Operational Procedures and Contingency Planning
          4. Business Challenges
             1. Placing a Value on Network Management
             2. Feature vs. Product
             3. Uneven Competitive Landscape
       5. Chapter Summary
       6. Chapter Review
    2. 2. On the Job with a Network Manager
       1. A Day in the Life of a Network Manager
          1. Pat: A Network Operator for a Global Service Provider
          2. Chris: Network Administrator for a Medium-Size Business
          3. Sandy: Administrator and Planner in an Internet Data Center
          4. Observations
       2. The Network Operator’s Arsenal: Management Tools
          1. Device Managers and Craft Terminals
          2. Network Analyzers
          3. Element Managers
          4. Management Platforms
          5. Collectors and Probes
          6. Intrusion Detection Systems
          7. Performance Analysis Systems
          8. Alarm Management Systems
          9. Trouble Ticket Systems
          10. Work Order Systems
          11. Workflow Management Systems and Workflow Engines
          12. Inventory Systems
          13. Service Provisioning Systems
          14. Service Order–Management Systems
          15. Billing Systems
       3. Chapter Summary
       4. Chapter Review
    3. 3. The Basic Ingredients of Network Management
       1. The Network Device
          1. Management Agent
          2. Management Information, MOs, MIBs, and Real Resources
          3. Basic Management Ingredients—Revisited
       2. The Management System
          1. Management System and Manager Role
          2. A Management System’s Reason for Being
       3. The Management Network
          1. Networking for Management
          2. The Pros and Cons of a Dedicated Management Network
       4. The Management Support Organization: NOC, NOC, Who’s There?
          1. Managing the Management
          2. Inside the Network Operations Center
       5. Chapter Summary
       6. Chapter Review
11. II. Management Perspectives
    1. 4. The Dimensions of Management
       1. Lost in (Management) Space: Charting Your Course Along Network Management Dimensions
       2. Management Interoperability: “Roger That”
          1. Communication Viewpoint: Can You Hear Me Now?
          2. Function Viewpoint: What Can I Do for You Today?
          3. Information Viewpoint: What Are You Talking About?
          4. The Role of Standards
       3. Management Subject: What We’re Managing
       4. Management Life Cycle: Managing Networks from Cradle to Grave
          1. Planning
          2. Deployment
          3. Operations
          4. Decommissioning
       5. Management Layer: It’s a Device… No, It’s a Service… No, It’s a Business
          1. Element Managment
          2. Network Management
          3. Service Management
          4. Business Management
          5. Network Element
          6. Additional Considerations
       6. Management Function: What’s in Your Toolbox
       7. Management Process and Organization: Of Help Desks and Cookie Cutters
       8. Chapter Summary
       9. Chapter Review
    2. 5. Management Functions and Reference Models: Getting Organized
       1. Of Pyramids and Layered Cakes
       2. FCAPS: The ABCs of Management
          1. F Is for Fault
             1. Network Monitoring Overview
             2. Basic Alarm Management Functions
             3. Advanced Alarm Management Functions
             4. Alarm and Event Filtering
             5. Alarm and Event Correlation
             6. Fault Diagnosis and Troubleshooting
             7. Proactive Fault Management
             8. Trouble Ticketing
          2. C Is for Configuration
             1. Configuring Managed Resources
             2. Auditing, Discovery, and Autodiscovery
             3. Synchronization
             4. Backup and Restore
             5. Image Management
          3. A Is for Accounting
             1. On the Difference Between Billing and Accounting
             2. Accounting for Communication Service Consumption
             3. Accounting Management as a Service Feature
          4. P Is for Performance
             1. Performance Metrics
             2. Monitoring and Tuning Your Network for Performance
             3. Collecting Performance Data
          5. S Is for Security
             1. Security of Management
             2. Management of Security
          6. Limitations of the FCAPS Categorization
       3. OAM&P: The Other FCAPS
       4. FAB and eTOM: Oh, Wait, There’s More
       5. How It All Relates and What It Means to You: Using Your Network Management ABCs
       6. Chapter Summary
       7. Chapter Review
12. III. Management Building Blocks
    1. 6. Management Information: What Management Conversations Are All About
       1. Establishing a Common Terminology Between Manager and Agent
       2. MIBs
          1. The Managed Device as a Conceptual Data Store
          2. Categories of Management Information
          3. The Difference Between a MIB and a Database
          4. The Relationship Between MIBs and Management Protocols
       3. MIB Definitions
          1. Of Schema and Metaschema
          2. The Impact of the Metaschema on the Schema
             1. Metaschema Modeling Paradigms
             2. Matching Management Information and Metaschema
          3. A Simple Modeling Example
          4. Encoding Management Information
       4. Anatomy of a MIB
          1. Structure of Management Information—Overview
          2. An Example: MIB-2
          3. Instantiation in an Actual MIB
          4. Special MIB Considerations to Address SNMP Protocol Deficits
       5. Modeling Management Information
       6. Chapter Summary
       7. Chapter Review
    2. 7. Management Communication Patterns: Rules of Conversation
       1. Layers of Management Interactions
          1. Transport
          2. Remote Operations
          3. Management Operations
          4. Management Services
       2. Manager-Initiated Interactions—Request and Response
          1. Information Retrieval—Polling and Polling-Based Management
             1. Requests for Configuration Information
             2. Requests for Operational Data and State Information
             3. Bulk Requests and Incremental Operations
             4. Historical Information
          2. Configuration Operations
             1. Failure Recovery
             2. Response Size and Request Scoping
             3. Dealing with Configuration Files
          3. Actions
          4. Management Transactions
       3. Agent-Initiated Interactions: Events and Event-Based Management
          1. Event Taxonomy
             1. Alarms
             2. Configuration Change Events
             3. Threshold-Crossing Alerts
          2. The Case for Event-Based Management
          3. Reliable Events
          4. On the Difference Between “Management” and “Control”
       4. Chapter Summary
       5. Chapter Review
    3. 8. Common Management Protocols: Languages of Management
       1. SNMP: Classic and Perennial Favorite
          1. SNMP “Classic,” a.k.a. SNMPv1
             1. SNMP Operations
                1. Get Request
                2. Get-Next Request
                3. Set Request
                4. Get-Response
                5. Trap
             2. SNMP Messages and Message Structure
          2. SNMPv2/ SNMPv2c
          3. SNMPv3
       2. CLI: Management Protocol of Broken Dreams
          1. CLI Overview
          2. Use of CLI as a Management Protocol
       3. syslog: The CLI Notification Sidekick
          1. syslog Overview
          2. syslog Protocol
          3. syslog Deployment
       4. Netconf: A Management Protocol for a New Generation
          1. Netconf Datastores
          2. Netconf and XML
          3. Netconf Architecture
          4. Netconf Operations
       5. Netflow and IPFIX: “Check, Please,” or, All the Data, All the Time
          1. IP Flows
          2. Netflow Protocol
       6. Chapter Summary
       7. Chapter Review
    4. 9. Management Organization: Dividing the Labor
       1. Scaling Network Management
          1. Management Complexity
             1. Build Complexity
             2. Runtime Complexity
          2. Management Hierarchies
             1. Subcontracting Management Tasks
             2. Deployment Aspects
          3. Management Styles
             1. Management by Delegation
             2. Management by Objectives and Policy-Based Management
             3. Management by Exception
       2. Management Mediation
          1. Mediation Between Management Transports
          2. Mediation Between Management Protocols
          3. Mediation of Management Information at the Syntactic Level
             1. Example: A Syslog-to-SNMP Management Gateway
             2. Example: An SNMP-to-OO Management Gateway
             3. Limitations of Syntactic Information Mediation
          4. Mediation of Management Information at the Semantic Level
          5. Stateful Mediation
       3. Chapter Summary
       4. Chapter Review
13. IV. Applied Network Management
    1. 10. Management Integration: Putting the Pieces Together
       1. The Need for Management Integration
          1. Benefits of Integrated Management
          2. Nontechnical Considerations for Management Integration
          3. Different Perspectives on Management Integration Needs
             1. The Equipment Vendor Perspective
             2. The Enterprise Perspective
             3. The Service Provider Perspective
          4. Integration Scope and Complexity
       2. Management Integration Challenges
          1. Managed Domain
          2. Software Architecture
             1. Challenges from Application Requirements
             2. Challenges from Conflicting Software Architecture Goals
             3. Eierlegende Wollmilchsaun and One-Size-Fits-All Management Systems
          3. Quantifying Management Integration Complexity
             1. Scale Complexity
             2. Heterogeneity Complexity
             3. Function Complexity
       3. Approaches to Management Integration
          1. Adapting Integration Approach and Network Provider Organization
          2. Platform Approach
             1. Common Platform Infrastructure
             2. Typical Platform Application Functionality
          3. Custom Integration Approach
             1. Solution Philosophy and Challenges
             2. Considerations for Top-Down Solution Design
                1. Who Owns What
                2. Chains of Command
                3. Umbrella Coordination
             3. Component Integration Levels and Bottom-Up Solution Design
             4. The Role of Standardization and Information Models
       4. Containing Complexity of the Managed Domain
       5. Chapter Summary
       6. Chapter Review
    2. 11. Service Level Management: Knowing What You Pay For
       1. The Motivation for Service Level Agreements
       2. Identification of Service Level Parameters
          1. Significance
             1. A Brief Detour: Service Level Relationships Between Layered Communication Services
             2. Example: Voice Service Level Parameters
          2. Relevance
          3. Measurability
       3. Defining a Service Level Agreement
          1. Definition of Service Level Objectives
          2. Tracking Service Level Objectives
          3. Dealing with Service Level Violations
       4. Managing for a Service Level
          1. Decomposing Service Level Parameters
          2. Planning Networks for a Given Service Level
             1. Dimensioning Networks to Meet Service Level Objectives
             2. Managing Oversubscription Risk
             3. Network Maintenance Considerations
          3. Service Level Monitoring—Setting Up Early Warning Systems
             1. Monitoring Service Level Parameters
             2. Anticipating Problems Before They Occur
          4. Service Level Statistics—It’s Fingerpointin’ Good
       5. Chapter Summary
       6. Chapter Review
    3. 12. Management Metrics: Assessing Management Impact and Effectiveness
       1. Network Management Business Impact
          1. Cost of Ownership
          2. Enabling of Revenues
          3. Network Availability
          4. Trading Off the Benefits and Costs of Network Management Investments
       2. Factors that Determine Management Effectiveness
          1. Managed Technology—Manageability
          2. Management Systems and Operations Support Infrastructure
          3. Management Organization
       3. Assessing Network Management Effectiveness
          1. Management Metrics to Track Business Impact
          2. Management Metrics to Track Contribution to Management Effectiveness
             1. Metrics for Complexity of Operational Tasks
             2. Metrics for Scale
             3. Other Metrics
          3. Developing Your Own Management Benchmark
          4. Assessing and Tracking the State of Management
          5. Using Metrics to Direct Management Investment
       4. Chapter Summary
       5. Chapter Review
14. V. Appendixes
    1. A. Answers to Chapter Reviews
       1. Chapter 1
       2. Chapter 2
       3. Chapter 3
       4. Chapter 4
       5. Chapter 5
       6. Chapter 6
       7. Chapter 7
       8. Chapter 8
       9. Chapter 9
       10. Chapter 10
       11. Chapter 11
       12. Chapter 12
    2. B. Further Reading
       1. Books on Network Management
       2. Standards and Industry Recommendations
       3. Conferences and Workshops
       4. Web Resources
       5. Other Material Related to This Book
    3. Glossary