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PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
Complex networks such as VoIP or MPLS cores require a finer degree of performance monitoring that provides the ability to collect data from vendor provided SNMP MIBs to report on parameters such as jitter, MOS (Mean Opinion Score-a common indicator of voice quality in VoIP networks) and volume/congestion levels in a CoS (Class of Service indicating a dedicated channel with QoS attributes in an MPLS based VPN). These reports are provided out-of-box by advanced network performance management systems.
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Ensuring that all network devices have a standard configuration
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Minimize the vulnerability of network devices related to firmware upgrades
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Maintain a process oriented approach for configuration changes including necessary approvals
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Network performance management solutions also aid the administrator in locating performance bottlenecks by providing intelligent 'At-a-Glance' reports that show crucial device performance metrics on a single page. Decisions on which metrics best reflect the overall performance of the device are made in consultation with industry experts. These solutions also offer the ability to customize reports based on user requirements.
IT managers can also use the solutions to identify under utilized and over utilized links. Advanced systems also offer 'what-if' scenario simulators that allow administrators to gauge the growth in capacity given the growth in demand. This is a very useful feature when rolling out new applications.
Multiple network performance solutions are available in the market ranging from freeware, open source to proprietary software. Most of these solutions leverage SNMP agents on target devices to collect and chart performance statistics of key parameters such as device utilization, link utilization and error rates, availability and response times.
SECURITY MANAGEMENT
Security Management is a vast domain on its own comprising threat management (firewalls, anti-virus, anti-spyware, content inspection, vulnerability management), identity and access management (user lifecycle management, single sign on, access control) and security incident management (log consolidation, data normalization, event correlation). Comprehensive security management suites are available today to provide an integrated approach to managing security at various touch points within the organization.
Vulnerabilities often exist at the network layer in the form of firmware loopholes, badly configured SNMP access control and non-existent access lists on critical devices. Solutions such as vulnerability scanners alleviate this problem by providing a list of vulnerabilities and bad configurations. These scanners obtain a list of the latest vulnerabilities from vendor websites. Using these reports, administrators can take remedial actions such as upgrading the firmware or modifying configurations.
| Challenges Addressed |
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Ensure secure access to network devices after requisite authorization with audit logs
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Ensure security of data when it passes through public networks
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Manage security incidents across network devices (routers /switches/firewalls/IDS/IPS )
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Secure known vulnerabilities in protocols such as SNMP
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Network security solutions also offer data security by means of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) that allow end users to securely access data over public networks such as the Internet. IPSec protocols are standards-based and provide the three factors needed for secure communications-authentication, integrity, and confidentiality-even in large networks. The end-result is that with IPSec-compliant products, you can build a secure VPN in any existing IP-based network.
MULTI-FUNCTIONAL SOLUTION
All said and done, network management is one of the oldest disciplines of IT infrastructure management and is here to stay. Network management solutions have come a long way from being just polling and charting tools to providing advanced analytics to minimize downtime and brown-outs. Today, CIOs are expecting solutions that provide integrated FCAPS functionality rather than a piecemeal approach. They also expect these solutions to provide analytics in the form of complex SLA reports, capacity planning information and root cause analysis to ensure that the network is always available and performing optimally.
Rajendra Dhavale
The author is consulting director, CA India and SAARC
dqmail@cybermedia.co.in
Source: Dataquest
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