OpenView Network Node Manager: Designing and Implementing an Enterprise Solution

Validating Operating System Changes

The NNM system’s underlying operating system (OS) is not a static thing. The OS vendor makes changes to its code base for a variety of reasons, including to:

• maintain a competitive advantage

• comply with Y2K (still)

• avoid obsolescence

• patch coding errors

• add new features

• upgrade subsystems such as DNS or X-Windows

Before plunging ahead with an aggressive upgrade strategy, remember to verify that any OS upgrade is supported by NNM and your third-party applications. Be cautious here. You may find, for example, that a certain third-party application that loads under NNM 5.x refuses to load under NNM 6.x, but will continue to work if NNM 5.x is upgraded to NNM 6.x instead. Here, you are burning the candle at both ends ...