Analysis on network management and network management software

In the quality system of computer networks, network management is one of the key links. Just as a manager is important to the life of a big family, the quality of network management will directly affect the quality of network operation. So, how can we choose the appropriate network management system and network management software for our network?

Network Management

The current development of computer networks is characterized by the constant expansion of the scale, increasing complexity, and increasing heterogeneity. A network is usually composed of several large and small subnets. It integrates a variety of network systems (NOS) platforms and includes network devices and communication devices of different manufacturers and companies. At the same time, there are many network software in the network to provide a variety of services. As users demand higher network performance, if there is no efficient management system to manage the network system, it is difficult to guarantee satisfactory services to users.

As a very important technology, network management has a great impact on the development of networks and has become one of the most important problems in modern information networks.

In fact, network management is not a new concept. In a broad sense, any system needs to be managed, but the importance of management in the entire system is light and important based on the size and complexity of the system. The Network is also a system. The telecom network, which traces back to the end of the 19th century, already has its own "system". This is the administrator of the entire telephone network system, even though it has limited management content. The management of computer networks can be said to be accompanied by the generation of ARPANET, the world's first computer network in 1969. At that time, ARPANET had a corresponding management system. Some subsequent network structures, such as IBM's SNA, DEC's DNA, and SUN's AppleTalk, also have corresponding management systems. However, although network management has been available for a long time, it has never been paid due attention. This is because the network was small at the time, and the complexity was not high. A simple network management system could meet the needs of normal network management, so there was little research on it. However, with the development of the network, the scale increases and the complexity increases, and the previous network management technology cannot adapt to the rapid development of the network.

The increasing scale of network systems and the increasing level of network applications make network maintenance one of the important problems in network management, such as making it more difficult to eliminate network faults and increasing maintenance costs; on the other hand, how to improve network performance has become a major problem for network system applications. Although network performance can be improved by enhancing or improving static network measures, such as enhancing the processing capability of network servers, and using new technologies such as network switching to broaden network bandwidth, however, dynamic measures such as load balancing during network operation are also an important aspect to improve network performance. The network performance improved through static or dynamic measures is called the static and dynamic network performance. The improvement of the dynamic performance of the network is solved through the network management system ("network management system.

In general, network management is to adjust the network status in some way so that the network can run normally and efficiently. The goal is to make more efficient use of various resources in the network. When the network fails, it can report and handle the problems in a timely manner, coordinate and maintain the efficient operation of the network. Generally, network management has five main functions: network failure management, network configuration management, network performance management, network security management, and network billing management. These five functions include the basic functions to ensure the normal operation of a network system.

The modern computer Network management system is mainly composed of four elements: Managed Agents and at least one Network Manager ); A Public Network Management Protocol, one or more Management Information bases ). The Network Management Protocol is the most important part. It defines the communication method between the Network Manager and the managed proxy, defines the storage structure of the management information library, the meaning of keywords in the Information Library, and the handling methods of various events. Currently, the affected Network Management protocols are SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) and CMIS/CMIP (the Common Management Information Service/Protocol ). They represent the current two network management solutions. Among them, SNMP is widely used, most widely used, and most widely supported. It has become a de facto industrial standard (For details, refer to the technical section ).

Network Management Software

The requirement of network management determines the composition and scale of the network management system, it is basically composed of network management software platforms that support network management protocols, network management support software, network management work platforms, and network devices that support network management protocols. The network management software platform provides basic management of network system configuration, faults, performance, and network user distribution, that is, network management functions are ultimately reflected in the implementation of various functions of the network management software. software is the "soul" of the network management system and the core of the network management system.

The functions of the network management software can be summarized into three parts: Architecture, core services and applications.

First, from the basic framework system, network management software must provide a general, open, and scalable framework system. To provide users with the maximum selection range, the network management software should support General platforms, such as both Unix and Windows NT operating systems. Network management software can be either a distributed architecture or a centralized architecture. In practice, it is generally used to combine a centralized management subnet with a Distributed Management primary network. At the same time, the network management software is designed based on the open standard framework. It should support the upgrade of existing protocols and technologies. Open network management software can support standard-based network management protocols, such as SNMP and CMIP. It must also support TCP/IP protocol families and other dedicated network protocols.

Network management software should be able to provide some core services to meet some of the network management requirements. Core Services are the basic functions of a network management software. Most enterprise network management systems use these services. Manufacturers often increase their competitiveness by providing important core services. They can supplement core services by improving the underlying system, or expand the functions of the network management software by adding optional components. Core Services include network search, error checking and error correction, support for a large number of devices, friendly operation interfaces, reporting tools, alarm notifications and handling, and configuration management.

In addition, to achieve specific transaction processing and structure support, it is necessary to add some valuable applications to the network management software to expand the basic functions of the network management software. These applications can be provided by third-party vendors. The level of network management software integration depends on the core services of the network management system and the functions of the vendor products. Applications in common network management software include advanced alarm processing, network simulation, policy management, and fault identification.

From the above introduction, we can see that the architecture, core services and applications are interrelated and inseparable. The architecture provides a system platform and a place where multiple resources are organically linked. The core services provide the most basic and important services, just like the part that maintains normal human survival in life; applications meet specific and personalized needs, such as the different habits and hobbies of different people in life.