☰ Chapter 3: What/Why/Who in Network Management

Alexander Clemm networkmanagement fundamentals

Outline♦ What is Network Management?

♦ Why Network Management?

♦ Who is Who in Network Management?

♦ What is going in Real Network Management Systems?

♦ Why is Network Management Challenging?

♦ Network Management Evolution

Today’s Networks

What is Network Management?♦ Computer networks are complex live systems

Require a great deal of attention to be kept up &running

- E.g. Failures, Performance tuning, ServiceProvisioning, Accounting, …

♦ Network management:

Everything that is involved in running of a network:

- Technologies/Protocols

- Tools/Software

- Activities

- Procedures

- People

Running a Network: OAM&P♦ Operations

Daily work to keep the network running smoothlyincluding monitor for alarms, watch for intrusions andattacks, ...

♦ Administration

High level & long-term decisions to keep track what’sin the network (topology & service), who uses what,expiation,…

♦ Maintenance

Repairs failures and upgrades network

♦ Provisioning

Configure the network to provide services, turn upservices for end customers

What is Network Management?♦ Therefore, network management is the activities, methods,procedures, and tools that pertain to the operation,administration, maintenance, and provisioning of networks

Network Management System(NMS)

Network Management Example♦ Medium-sized business network

Other Perspectives/Dimensions♦ The NM operations & procedures & functionalities is classifiedfrom other perspectives/dimensions than (traditional) OAM&P

♦ Classification based functionalities

ISO’s point of view: FCAPS

♦ Classification based on layers

ITU-T’s point of view: TMN

♦ Classification based on business model

TMF’s point of view: eTOM

♦ Other classifications?

Why Network Management?♦ There a many obvious reasons, e.g.,

- Faults should be detected & resolved

- New customer should be able to use the network

- New devices should be configured properly

- Resource usage must be accounted

…?

♦ These are technical & low-level requirements

♦ However, there are also less obvious but important reasonsfrom business management point of view

Need for efficient network management is alsosatisfied by high level business management

♦ Computer/Teleco networking is a business

Networks are built to make money

♦ Income (revenue) vs. TCO (Total Cost of Ownership)

♦ Income: Service provision for customers with desired QoS

♦ TCO: Cost to build up the network and its operation cost

♦ Cost (to provide the services)

NM to maximize efficiency, thus minimizing cost

♦ Revenue (realized through the services)

NM to ensure services are accounted for and deliveredwhen and where they are needed

♦ Quality (of the delivered services)

NM to maximize the inherent “value” of the managednetwork and services provided

These factors affect the business of service provider. Cost andrevenue directly affect and the quality parameter indirectlyinfluence the success of business of the service provider.

Why NM: Cost

♦ CAPEX (Capital Expenditure): Equipments, Software, License,Location, …

♦ OPEX (Operational Expenditure): People, electricity,maintenance, …

♦ Important fact

OPEX >> CAPEX

While network equipment and NM software are expensive, butthe cost is amortized over the lifetime of the network

♦ So, we should attempt to decrease OPEX

- Even if it results in increasing in CAPEX

♦ Efficient network management system can decrease OPEXsignificantly, e.g., …

♦ More efficient troubleshooting and diagnostics

- Free up operators from routine problems to focus onthe hard stuff

- Reduce amount of expertise required

- Reduce SLA penalties

♦ Automation of service provisioning by workflows -

Less operator involvement

Less prone to operator error

>50% of network & service outages! (impacts costand quality)

♦ Planning, bottleneck analysis

- Deploy resources where they are needed most

- Optimization of topologies

- Minimize investment needed for given network goals

- And more …

Reduce the skill level that is required to manage the network,easier to find such operators with less salary

Why NM: Revenue♦ Flexible billing and accounting systems

- Combine multiple services to increase incoming

♦ Automated provisioning systems

Quicker time to revenue generation

- Reduce the time that elapses from the time a serviceis ordered to the time the service is actually turned up

♦ Customer views of services delivered

- Stats on calls made, bandwidth consumed, servicelevels

- Attract more customer for more expensive services

♦ Make possible new source of revenue

- Provisioning new & complex & expensive services is(economically/technically) possible only via efficientNMS

♦ And more …

Why NM: Quality (cont’d)♦ Automated provisioning

- More efficient provisioning (less order-to-servicetime)

- Avoid misconfiguration through end-to-endprovisioning

♦ Provision network for certain quality

Proper dimensioning, Tested service configurations,Policies for traffic shaping, connection admissioncontrol

- To increase reliability and availability of the service

♦ Help identify, diagnose, fix problems (reactive)

- Alarm correlation, faster problem is resolved,minimizing the time of outages, try not to wait untilcustomer complains

Who is Who in NetworkManagement?Network Management: The Players

Network management is a big industry with many partnerships

Service Provider Interest in NM♦ Service providers sell communication services

- Many market segments: Long Distance versus LocalExchange Carriers, Voice, Data, Video, …

Whereas differentiation in services

- All running networks is their core business

♦ However, many companies offering the same services

- Compare airlines: same air planes, same airports,same “function”

♦ Major differentiation: Quality (SLA)

♦ NM is the main tool to improve the quality - Turning up newservices the fastest

- Running the network at lowest cost

- Fixing problems the most efficiently, or avoid themaltogether

- Ability to give service level guarantees, and keepthem

- Best customer service

- And more …

Enterprise Interest in NMEnterprise networks are different from service providernetworks

♦ Running networks is not the core business

- Communication services for enterprise operation

- IT departments are cost centers

♦ The network has only one customer & the customer has notany alternative options

The network is not the primary competitivedifferentiator

♦ It’s not just the network, it’s also Data Centers, applications,and Desktop, Servers, …

♦ No revenue ⇒ efficient management = minimizing operationcosts. E.g.,

- Efficient (automated) implementation of workflows

- Efficient usages of resources

- Minimize outage

Imagine one hour outage at a financial brokerage, ata car manufacturer, …

♦ And more …

- Consider university, what are your expectationsfrom the information center?

♦ No revenue ⇒ Networks & NM is cost ⇒ less investment on NMsystems

End Users (Managers)♦ Network managers: Many roles, for example

- Network administrators

- Craft Technicians

- Device administrators

- Help desk operators

- Network planners

♦ Network management systems, software, interfaces tosupport and help them be effective

End Users (Costumers)♦ Customers of communication services

♦ Not interested in management unless part of the service (“selfservice”)

- Customer care system

- Trouble ticketing system

- Service on demand

- One bill

- Service statistics online

- Set up usage policies for kids

- And more …

NM users have different (conflicting)expectation from it

Equipment Vendors Interest in NM♦ Make a business out of selling networking and data centerequipment

- Not management systems (application software)

♦ Manageability: Ease with which a vendor’s equipment can bemanaged

Shift in perception

- Past: network management a necessary evil

- Present: network management competitivedifferentiator

NM Application Vendors♦ Make a business out of developing, selling, servicing networkmanagement applications

♦ Fill the gaps that equipment vendors leave open

- Multi-vendor support

- Complete end-to-end NM instead of devicemanagement

- Management functionalities instead of managingdevices, e.g., work flow, customer care, …

♦ Competitive features

- Multi-vendor support

- Customizable

- High-end management functionalities

- Easy to use and integrate

System Integrators♦ Make a business out of network management

- How when NM Application providers develop thetools?

- Fact 1) in real world,

No one tool or application can do every management tasks ⇒

Multiple applications for different purposes

♦ These applications manage the same network (from differentaspects); hence, should be integrated, because

♦ Work on the same databases

♦ Used in the same workflow procedure

- Fact 2) While there are many management standard protocolsand interfaces, in real world

♦ Applications don’t work together as easy as it seems - NMusers need more integrated functionalities

♦ Fill the gap between COTS (Commercial of-the-shelf) andcustom development by network providers

- Specific operations support infrastructure

- The required management applications to integrate

♦ Develop software wrappers, protocol converter/gateways, APIcustomization, …

♦ Make a business out of management requirements that arespecific only to particular management users

Summary

Summary

Real Network Management SystemsNMS & NOC

NMS & NOC♦ Managers manage the network using NMS in NOC

♦ NMS: Network Management System - To perform NMfunctions (FCAPS)

- Interface (The following slides)

- Core logic (Software Engineering)

- Protocols e.g. SNMP

♦ NOC: Network Operation Center

- Where the NMS servers & clients are installed

Network Management Tools

♦ Management tools: management systems that networkmanagers interact with

Text-based interfaces: CLI

Often preferred by power users

More productive, don’t be slowed down by mouseclicks and navigation, scripting (automatedconfiguration), …

♦ GUIs

Occasional users

“Legitimate” GUI uses: Monitoring, Visualization oflarge quantities of data, Summary reports

Web Based GUI is common interface

NM Tools Examples: Traffic Analyzer♦ Inspect and “sniff” network traffic

♦ Analyze individual packets to understand what’s going on

♦ Low-level troubleshooting activities

♦ Statistics

- Per protocol

- Per host

- Multicast, Broadcast, Unicast

…

Network Analyzer: MaaTech

Traffic Analyzer: Wireshark

NM Tools Examples: DeviceManagers♦ View and manage individual devices one at a time

- View statistics

- View alarms

- View configuration

- Change & tune parameters

♦ Most basic interface: Telnet/SSH sessions, CLI

- Can do anything on a per-device level

- Often interface of choice for network administrators

♦ GUI, Web app more user friendly (easier to operate, butsometimes less productive for “power users”)

♦ Often specific to a particular vendor and device type 42

Device Manager: CiscoView

NM Tools Examples: Element Managers

♦ View and manage individual devices in a network, similar todevice managers; however

♦ Auto-discovers devices on a network

♦ Provides overview of all (or many) devices in a network

♦ Maintains state, e.g. database with network elements

♦ Allow to display devices on a logical topology map

- Topology often not discovered but edited by anadministrator

♦ Often specific to devices of a particular vendor

♦ “Northbound interfaces” to interact with other systems

Element Manger: Example

NM Tools Examples: Network Managers

♦ Additional functions to deal with connectivity

- Discover logical topology

- Indicate state of connections

♦ Wider range of supported devices

- Integration of multiple devices types from multiplevendors becomes a “must”

♦ Often built on the basis of vendor-independent managementplatforms

Device/Element/Network Managers

NM Tools Examples: PerformanceAnalysis Systems♦ Collect performance statistics

♦ Monitor performance tends

♦ Detect performance bottlenecks

♦ Uses for

- Service level management

- Monitor if agreed-to service levels are being keptExamples: Delay, jitter, voice quality, …

- Proactive fault management

- Detect problems that are brewing

- E.g. deteriorating response times

- Troubleshooting and diagnostics

- Network planning

Other Example Tools♦ Service order management systems

- Entry of service orders

- Adding, deleting, modifying a service

- Orchestration of service order process, e.g.

- Turning on billing

- Credit card verification

- Flow-through systems to provision the service

- Tracking of service order status

♦ Work order management systems

- Equipment installation, wiring, repair, replacement

- Management of truck rolls

- Interaction with inventory and ordering systems forspares

- Interaction with workforce planning systems

Other Example Tools (cont’d)

♦ Address management systems - Helpdesk systems

♦ Customer Relationship Management Systems - Workflowengines

♦ Intrusion detection systems - Billing systems

Why is Network ManagementChallenging?♦ Network management is a complicated process

- Very wide: Various functionalities, Differentobjectives, …

- With many details: All protocols in networks need tobe managed!!!

- From different perspectives/Dimensions

- Technical issues, Managerial issues, Human!!

♦ Challenges

- Technical challenges

- Organization and operation challenges

- Business challenges

Challenges Example: Technical♦ The first and obvious set of challenges

♦ NM system is a very big and complex SW, general issues:

- SW architectural design issues

- Appropriate technologies

- Development & documentation

- Test & troubleshooting

♦ NM context issues:

- Application characteristics

- Scale

- Technology cross-section

- Integration

Technical Challenges: ApplicationCharacteristics♦ NM is composed of different functionalities (e.g., FCAPS)

- Have own requirements and characteristics from SWengineering point of view

♦ Some example characteristics

- Transaction-Based System Characteristics

- Interrupt-Driven System Characteristics

- Efficient Data Analysis System Characteristics

Transaction-Based Characteristics

♦ Network configuration for service provisioning

- Rollback in the case of any failure/error

Interrupt-Driven Characteristics♦ Network health tracking is an objective of NM

- Devices inform events to manager through alarmmessage ⇒unsolicited message (interrupt)

♦ Challenges

- Real-time processing & response - High volume ofinterrupts

- E.g., a broken router

- Multiple physical link failure alarms

- So many service disruption alarms

- Unexpected routing updates

- ….

♦ Correlation between events

- …

Efficient Data Analysis SystemCharacteristics♦ Operators need to analyze network performance to

- Identify bottlenecks

- Guarantee SLA

- Evaluate utilization of network resources

- Understand traffic patterns

♦ Challenges

- Gathering large volume of data

- Processing data

- Statistical analysis and interference: Efficient &complex algorithms

Technical Challenges: Scale♦ Computer networks are large scale systems

- Scalability is a fundamental requirement in NM

♦ Scalability needs proper design and technologies

- NM for ~10 node is completely different from NM for~1000 node!

♦ As a general rule scalability is a SW architecture problemrather than HW platforms

- While hardware performance is increasing, NMprocessing requirements increase more

Technical Challenges: Technologies♦ Many different technologies need to be used to build a NMsystem ⇒ Many technologist with different expertise

♦ Examples

♦ Information modeling: How network devices, links, service,management parameters, … are modeled?

♦ Database: How to design required NM DBs (devices, links,services, customers, configurations, …)

♦ Distributed computing: By definition, NM is distributedcomputing

♦ Moreover, to achieve scalability & reliability, distributedcomputing is needed

♦ Network protocols

♦ User interface

- Visualization of large volume of data efficiently &user-friendly

- Support large number of user for customer caresoftware

Technical Challenges: Integration♦ Swivel-chair syndrome

Technical Challenges: Integration

♦ Make different NM applications as if they were a “NM system”

Organization & OperationsChallenges♦ How human are organized for NM is an important issue

- Specially in large enterprises with IT departments

- Specially in service provider networks (e.g., TIC)

♦ How to divide the tasks of NM?

- Network planning, deployment, operation,maintenance, …

♦ Which process & workflow should be used for each task

- It is not easy, eTOM tried to answer

♦ It is an other dimension (rather than technology) forsuccessful network management

Business Challenges♦ Different players in NM ⇒ Different objectives

- Equipment vendors focus on managing own devicesnot high-end management functionalities

- Service providers focus on business successthorough efficient NM

- Enterprises need cost efficient NM

- Network operators need user-friendly high-levelNMS

- Customers needs easy-to-use customer care portals

♦ NM tools providers and Integrator have their own businessgoal and constraints

♦ These business objectives are conflicting

Network Management EvolutionTelecommunications Services Evolution

Management Functionality Evolution♦ Traditional (PSTN) networks

♦ Circuit switching: F > C > A > P > S

- Fault = service disruption

- Configuration = service provisioning

- Per call accounting = Business

- Ignore performance since resources are reserved

- No security

♦ Next Generation Networks (NGN)

♦ Data/Multimedia IP networks:

- S > P > A ~ C ~ F

- Security is the essential requirement

- Efficient resource utilization through Performancemanagement

- Bulk bandwidth or usage based accounting

- Misconfiguration and faults are tolerable in somecases

Network Management VisionEvolution♦ Traditional management

- Element management

Get/Set device management parameters

Get alarms from equipments

♦ Current trend (vision)

- Service & Business management

- Process & Workflow management

- TeleManagement Forum (TMF) is the driving forcebehind this vision

Network Management TechnicalEvolution♦ New paradigms in networking

- SDN and NFV

♦ Lead to new network architecture

- New components

SDN Controller

NFV MANO, VIM, VFNM, …

♦ The main question: NM in these new Arch.

- Relation between NMS/OSS and the newcomponents

Simplification or Complication of NM?!!

Typical Service Providers’ NM♦ NOC (Network Operation Center)

- NMS (Network Management System)

Device & Network Management

- OSS (Operation Support System)

High-level management work-flows

- BSS (Business Support System)

Operations related to business management

♦ SOC (Security Operation Center)

- Operations related to security management

Security policies, implementation, monitoring, …

Summary

♦ What is Network Management?

- OAM&P or FCAPS or FAB or …

♦ Why Network Management?

- Cost and Revenue is determined by it

♦ Who is Who in Network Management?

- NM Provider (Equipment, NP Application,Integration) & NM Users (Service Providers, Endusers)

♦ What is going in Real Network Management Systems?

- Many applications in NOC

♦ Why is Network Management Challenging?

- Technical, Organizational, …

References♦ Reading Assignment: Chapter 1 & 2 of “Alexander Clemm,‘Network Management Fundamentals’ , Cisco Press, 2007”

♦ Alexander Clemm, “Network Management”, Santa ClaraUniversity, http://www.engr.scu.edu/~aclemm

♦ Woraphon Lilakiatsakun, “Network Management”, MahanakornUniversity of Technology,http://www.msit2005.mut.ac.th/msit_media/1_2553/ITEC4611/

♦ J. Won-Ki Hong, “Network Management System”, PosTechUniversity, dpnm.postech.ac.kr/cs607/

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