UPLOGIX WHITE PAPER · Organizations have attempted to make these important connections stronger by deploying a combination of network management software that polls devices over

U P L O G I X W H I T E PA P E R

Storm Clouds Ahead: Why ‘dumb’ console servers are

bleeding your company’s bottom line

W W W . U P L O G I X . C O M

Contents Introduction 1

What happens when networks fail 2

Comparing functionality: console servers vs Uplogix 3

An example of how automation can saves time and effort 4

Comparing risk and cost: console servers vs Uplogix 6

Conclusions 8

Introduction

With all of the excitement around cloud computing and virtualizing systems these

days, the dirty little secret is the assumption that networks never fail The connec-

tion between users and the near limitless computing power and storage capabilities

in The Cloud becomes more critical than ever—especially if the network goes down

Key networking gear is deployed at locations without trained IT staff, leaving many

users and business functions at the mercy of “best effort” uptime, which for many

sites and users can mean hours or days of downtime

Organizations have attempted to make these important connections stronger by

deploying a combination of network management software that polls devices over

the network, and people practicing the art of network management over a “dumb”

console server connected to network devices for access when there is a problem

While software solutions are adequate when the network is working, when the

network is down, the only choice is to put a human on the problem A trained IT

professional has to triage, diagnose, propose and implement a fix over console or

by traveling onsite This is the status quo that has been in place for 20 years

There is a better option than the standard hodgepodge of console servers, admin-

istrative magic, custom scripts, redundancies, blood, sweat and tears It’s Uplogix

With intelligent, automated functionality for secure access, local control and policy

enforcement, Uplogix can make your networks more resilient, while reducing the

support costs and business risks you currently face

In this white paper we will show the limitations of the business-as-usual deploy-

ment of console + NSM software, then compare what you get if you deploy Uplogix

instead We’ll show you an example of how Uplogix automation not only saves

human effort, but also improves service quality and strengthens your investment in

NSM software Finally we’ll examine the hard and soft costs, and benefits of various

solutions from doing nothing to deploying the Uplogix Local Management Platform

There is nothing more important than having a person or a control system at every

site But, we think you’ll agree with us that the dumbest part of a console server is

wasting the capital to deploy one at all

2 | Why ‘dumb’ console servers are bleeding your company’s bottom line

w w w . u p l o g i x . c o m w w w . u p l o g i x . c o m

What happens when networks fail.Centralized SNMP-based NSM solutions provide rich diagnostic, fault management

and reporting information when the network is up and running It makes sense to

have them “cover” the network But when networks fail, about all they do is gener-

ate alarms and trouble tickets pointing out there may be a problem IT personnel

then must stop what they are doing and step in to triage and fix these issues based

on the limited information they might have from the software Using an out-of-band

connection and a console server for access to network devices, they begin following

a series of manual run book steps to identify, isolate and resolve the issue And it

seems to always be at the most inconvenient time—during lunch, at 2 a m , on the

weekend—which means it might be hours after the network initially went down

Of course, not all networks are created equal Some matter more than others For

these, extra resources are invested for more frequent polling of devices, redundan-

cies are deployed, and IT staff availability is increased by hiring more skilled indi-

viduals and/or being “on call” for issues—day and night These are ongoing hard

costs that impact the bottom line even when the network is working properly Is this

always the best way to ensure uptime?

The truth is that today’s networks fail for a variety of reasons While fiber lines do

get cut by construction vehicles, more often the root causes are simply network

troubles due to device issues like routers stuck in ROMmon, devices needing to be

rebooted periodically, and failed configuration changes The law of averages proves

that with routine configuration changes and maintenance actions, we’re going to

have our share of due to human errors

In a perfect world there would be a highly trained professional actively monitoring

each device in every network closet and in front of every rack in a datacenter, ready

to act at the slightest sign of trouble But there are three reasons this isn’t the case:

Cost X | It’s too expensive to have people everywhere, so we put people at the most important places first and endure the costs

(In)Convenience X | Some important places are too remote or extreme to ask people to work and live there, leaving these sites exposed to more frequent and severe outages

Continuity X | There are devices so critical that they need 24x7 uptime, which even the smartest, hardest working person or team can’t perform all

the time

w w w . u p l o g i x . c o m

An Uplogix White Paper | 3


Keep your head in The Cloud – Uplogix will be your boots on the groundSince the perfect world scenario of 24x7 coverage of an IT specialist at every loca-

tion is unrealistic, attempts have been made to replicate some of this coverage with

technology like console servers While traditional console can provide basic access

to remote devices, it’s still a manual process dependent on a human Improving on

this accepted norm, there are three things that Uplogix has integrated in a locally-

deployed management platform: Access, Control, and Enforcement

Uplogix’ unique architecture uses an always-available, secure and direct connection

to the remote devices it manages Here is a comparison of traditional console proce-

dures versus Uplogix:

Console Servers UplogixAccess

Console servers provide basic access to devices over the network. An out-of-band connection to the console server is necessary in case the network is down.

Uplogix utilizes the same console connections to devices as a console server providing secure access to remote devices. Out-of-band connectivity is also automated, with the out-of-the-box ability to dial-out over v.92, cellular, or low-earth orbit satellite. For devices without a console port or without a routable IP address, users can use port forwarding to se-curely access devices and manage them through the Uplogix Local Manager.

ControlNSM tools have robust algorithms, but depend on the network to manage the network. Access technologies like console servers aren’t well integrated with control software to make access seamless. They rely on custom scripting and the related headaches and risk of main-taining them to keep in compliance with policies.

Plus, when there is a problem, people are required to do the work. Even at 2 a.m.

With Uplogix on-site at a remote location, it can perform a majority of the routine administration, maintenance and recovery tasks that an on-site technician would do today. Utilizing an onboard rules engine, Uplogix minimizes costly tech support calls and on-site visits to remote locations by diagnosing and fixing problems locally as well as automat-ing routine maintenance tasks.

Enforcement

Console servers cannot log every action and protect the data that goes through it because they do not have a sizeable hard drive, database, or enough memory to store data to prevent overwriting for compliance and root cause analysis. Console servers are called “dumb” because they don’t have real-time automation “brains,” process actions, and are designed just for pass-through access to devices.

Uplogix ensures that internal security and management poli-cies are always enforced, even during a network outage. IT staff can control who has access to devices on the network, what they are doing while accessing the devices, and accu-rately and comprehensively report on all user interactions (IT staff and third party contractors) in order to satisfy security and compliance requirements.



Uplogix collects data through serial connections to managed devices—the most

reliable method possible This rich diagnostic data feeds a rules-based policy engine

to determine if a parameter is in or out of specification Uplogix can then either

automatically resolve the incident based on pre-approved automated operations,

or communicate the problem back to NSM and trouble ticketing tools All of this in

less time than most standard management tools take to find the problem, and often

before users even knew there was an issue

One example of how an automated solution saves the dayThe integration of local access, control and enforcement capabilities in Uplogix local

manager addresses many use cases for network and systems management, as well

as configuration, security & compliance, remote power and business system man-

agement This broad range of applicability means that Uplogix can save the day for

a number of IT staff, from the network admin to security, applications and facilities

managers

In this example, we’ll see how Uplogix automatically recovers from a lost configura-

tion on a router, restoring connectivity in minutes—before the issue would even

show up using NSM tools

EV

EN

T O

CC

UR

S

Standard NSM Tools

Uplogix Solution

With Uplogix:At all timesAll actions stored forcompliance reporting

COMPLIANCE

With Standard NSM:Days or weeksCompliance is missingor requires manual research

0:30 seconds 1:00 1:30 2:00 2:30 3:00 minutes0:00

5:00 10:00 15:00 minutes or hours hours or days0:00

Technicianarriveson-site

minutes or hours

Alarm triggered. Data collected over network polling every 5 minutes

Alarm triggered. Uplogix polls devices every 30 seconds over console port on over 40 variables, data stored for previous 12 hours.

If successful, done. If not, noti�es NOC of 1st level actions already taken and suggests next possible steps

EventOccurs

Standard NSM Tools

Uplogix Solution

Continue through run book

All actions stored forcompliance reporting0:30 1:00 1:30 2:00 2:30 3:000:00

5:00 10:00 15:00 minutes or hours hours or days0:00

Alarm triggered. Data collected over network polling every 5 minutes

Alarm confirmed

Alarm confirmed. Noticeof problem sent to NOC

Administrator receivesalarm, begins run book at step 1

Problem solved, orservice call placed

Technicianarriveson-site

minutes or hours

Alarm triggered. Uplogix polls devices every 30 sec over console port on over 40 variables, data stored for previous 12 hours.

Action ‘A’ appliedfrom run book

Data collected, if ‘A’ notsuccessful, ‘B’ run

Data collected, if ‘B’ notsuccessful, ‘C’ run

If successful, done. If not, noti�es NOC of 1st level actions already taken and suggests next possible steps

Administrator manually goes through run book to solve problem or places service call

??

RUN BOOK ACTIONSAUTOMATED...

ALARM CONFIRMATIONS,EVENTUAL NOTIFICATION...

Uplogix provides local, in-depth monitoring and automation to find and fix problems faster than traditional management tools




Remote Device Loses Startup Configuration

SituationThere are times when a brand new router

is sent to a remote office, a network device

loses the startup configuration, or an IT

admin accidently erases the startup configu-

ration file The result is the network device

will boot up in its initial configuration wizard

waiting for a human to input the parameters

This causes downtime in an organization

resulting in the inability to complete mission

critical work and possibly a mass business

disruption caused by a bad rollout that af-

fects multiple sites

Uplogix Solution - Automated Problem Resolution Using device manufacturers’ best practices,

Uplogix has hundreds of built-in manage-

ment procedures that enables actions when

certain conditions occur

Current MethodsNSM polling would have detected the prob-

lem eventually, but could only report that the

devices (all the devices) at the site were not

responding A trouble ticket would be created

and prioritized An admin would begin troubleshooting over a console server using

an out-of-band connection, starting from page one of the run book proceedures

Downtime could stretch from minutes to hours or even longer

0:00 Monitors the network device and sees that the device has come up in the initial con�guration wizard.

0:30 Determines that the device does not have a startup con�guration �le and breaks into the initial con�guration wizard.

1:30 Transfers a startup con�guration �le stored locally on Uplogix device. The transfer is done using either XMODEM, TFTP or FTP.

Reboots the network device.

2:30 Monitors for presence of initial con�guration wizard. If not present, will monitor that the device boots successfully

Reports, logs the event and steps, and returns to monitoring.

Event Timeline

MIN:SEC



Comparing the business cost of using console servers with UplogixWhen the network and dependent systems are down, orders can’t be placed, employees are less

productive, and costly resources have to be diverted to fix problems Traditional centralized net-

work and system management tools—although good at collecting and reporting system data—

still do not proactively fix problems once they occur The result is that people are still required to

perform most of the work over console servers on remote networks

Understanding the business case for remote network support is based on a risk/return calcula-

tion that takes into account the cost of downtime compared to the mix of resources spent to

avoid downtime The following chart shows that how much you spend on your resource mix

doesn’t always equate to the lowest risk

Defining the resource mix:

Automation X | Whether scripts that run over the network, or the automated manage-ment and recovery processes deployed by Uplogix, automation saves human effort, and reduces risk by taking human error out of the equation

Monitoring Software X | Software that uses SNMP polling to monitor a wide variety of network and device statistics Reliant on a network connection to the equipment and networks it monitors

Console/OOB X | Connecting remotely to devices over the console port, providing base-level access for management Out-of-band (OOB) access is an alternate path to connect to equipment other than the primary network

Onsite IT Staff X | Trained people Whether direct employees or through break/fix con-tracts, this is the cost of assigning a human to solve a problem at a site Along with high costs come issues like lack of coverage during night or holiday hours, plus the possibility of travel costs if they are unable to access a site remotely

Site A

Automation

Monitoring Software

Console / OOB

Onsite IT sta�

Spendingby Category

Risk

Site B Site C Site D Site E Site F (with Uplogix)

Site A Site B Site C Site D Site E Site F(with Uplogix)

None Limited Limited Limited Limited Comprehensive

None Limited Limited Limited Limited Guaranteed

None None Yes None Yes Yes

None

H I G H

M E D I U M

L O W

None None Yes Yes None




Running the numbersFor companies administering their own networks, quantifying downtime is more

than just the infrastructure management costs (both planned and unplanned), but

also the opportunity costs of the network being down (again, both planned and

unplanned) In this example we’ll use statistics provided by an Uplogix customer

that is a managed service provider (MSP), because the cost of network downtime is

so clearly articulated by SLAs with their customers Some of the categories listed

represent an aggregated cost For a more detailed analysis with your specific costs,

please contact Uplogix

Starting AssumptionsSites 1,000 “Real” Tickets per Device per Year 2.00 (not alerts, tickets after ECA tools) Devices per Site 4 Tickets per Month 667

Site E Costs with Console and Human Effort

Site F (with Uplogix) Savings with Uplogix

Local ManagementMonthly Trouble Tickets

# of Tickets Resolution Type

Relative Effort

Total Hours per Month

Total Cost

Uplogix Savings

Dollars Saved

145 Software Failure 5 2,537 $99,094 35% $34,683

87 Re-config 4 1,218 $47,565 40% $19,026

116 Power Cycle 2 812 $31,710 50% $15,855

116 Carrier 3 1,218 $47,565 20% $9,513

81 HW Failure 2 568 $22,197 25% $5,549

58 Reset 1 203 $7,928 35% $2,775

64 NTF 2 446 $17,441 10% $1,744

667 7,002 $273,500 33% $89,145

Monthly Dispatch Data (For Onsite Break/Fix)

50 Dispatches per Month

Cost per Dispatch - 3rd Party 50% $2,500

Cost per Dispatch - Internal (T&E only) 50% $1,000

Total Dispatch Cost $87,500 50% $43,750

Monthly SLA Data (Opportunity Cost for the MSP)

5 Level 3/SIP $12,500

20 Level 1&2 $2,500

SLA Credits Issued (all customers) $112,500 75% $84,375

Totals $473,500 $217,270

Uplogix Cost (Year 1: hardware + annual maintenance) $1.56M

Payback Period 7.2 months

For more information and an online ROI calculator that is finance dept. ready, go to uplogix.com/ROI



ConclusionsAll industries have passed through the same progression: what was initially a handmade product or skill

becomes mass produced as what used to only be possible by a human is automated through technology

Of course there are limits to automation, but the benefits far outweigh the cost of bleeding more money

and bearing more burden on already pressured IT staff This is the case with network management The

days of deploying a “dumb” console server to merely provide access for a person to do all the work are

fading fast

With the integrated access, control and enforcement delivered by Uplogix, it’s possible to not only get ac-

cess to remote gear, but also automate many of the maintenance and recovery actions that have required

human intervention in the past The Uplogix platform also enforces security policies and logs access for

compliance whether the network is up or down

In this white paper we showed how limited the traditional deployment of console servers plus NSM

software really is, and how it requires unncessary ongoing expenses that don’t help enough when the

network is down The hard and soft costs of remote network management are significant, including the

costs of highly trained IT staff, break/fix contracts and truck rolls, plus the soft (yet significant) costs of

downtime including lost productivity and business

With Uplogix you can save on all of these areas, increasing network uptime while reducing service costs

Before Uplogix, console servers and people were all we had As business moves into The Cloud and con-

nectivity at every node on the network becomes mission critical, it’s not enough When you run the num-

bers, it’s hard to imagine how deploying a “dumb” console server could be considered a smart decision

Find out more, go to: uplogix com/console-servers-are-dumb




Uplogix in the Ecosystem

ABOUT UPLOGIX // Uplogix provides the

industry’s first local management solution. Our

co-located management platform automates routine

administration, maintenance and recovery tasks—

securely and regardless of network availability.

In comparison, traditional network and systems

management depends on the network, uses multiple

tools, and remains labor intensive. Uplogix puts

the power of your most trusted IT administrator

everywhere, all the time.

Uplogix is privately held and headquartered in

Austin, Texas with international offices in London

and Monterrey. For more information, please visit

www.uplogix.com.

www.uplogix.com | Headquarters: 7600B N. Capital of Texas Hwy. Suite 220, Austin, Texas 78731 | US Sales 877.857.7077, International Sales +44(0)207 193 2769 © 2011 Uplogix, Inc. All rights reserved. Uplogix, the Uplogix logo, and SurgicalRollback are trademarks of Uplogix, Inc. All other marks referenced are those of their respective owners. 071311

To learn more about Local Management from Uplogix, please visit us on-

line or contact us for a technical demo and free evaluation of the benefits

of Uplogix in your infrastructure:

uplogix.com X

sales@uplogix com X

877 857 7077 (Headquarters) X

44(0)207 193 2769 (EMEA) X

+52 81 8306 0220 (Mexico) X

Documents

UPLOGIX WHITE PAPER · Organizations have attempted to make these important connections stronger by deploying a combination of network management software that polls devices over