BUSINESS DATA

COMMUNICATIONS &
NETWORKING

Chapter 12
Chapter
Network 12
Management
Network Management

FitzGerald ● Dennis ● Durcikova

Prepared by Taylor M. Wells: College of Business Administration, California State University, Sacramento
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Copyright © 2015 John, Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Outline

• What Do Network Managers Do?

• Designing for Network Performance
• Network Management Standards
• Managing Network Traffic
• Configuration Management
• Performance Management
• End User Support
• Cost Management
• Implications for Management

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Copyright © 2015 John, Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Network Management
• Network management is the process of operating,
monitoring, and controlling the network to ensure it works
as intended and provides value to its users

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What Do Network Managers Do?

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What Do Network Managers Do?

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Copyright © 2015 John, Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Designing for Network Performance
• Managed Networks
– Managed devices
• Provide the features of unmanaged devices, plus the
ability to configure, manage, and monitor the
device
• More expensive initial investment, but may save
money in management
• Can report when issues arise

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Copyright © 2015 John, Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Designing for Network Performance
• Device management software (point management
software)
– Allows manager to monitor performance and
configuration of devices on network
• System management software
• Application management software

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Copyright © 2015 John, Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Designing for Network Performance

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Copyright © 2015 John, Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Network Management Standards
• Simple network management protocol (SNMP)
– Most commonly used protocol for managing network
devices
– The network management software uses SNMP to
communicated with software agents on managed
devices
– Data is stored in management information base
(MIB)

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Network Management Standards

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Managing Network Traffic
• Load balancing
– Spreads traffic to devices in server farm (or cluster)

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Managing Network Traffic
• Traffic shaping
– By protocol or application
• Blocking or limiting similar to quality of service
(QoS)
– By source/destination
• Limiting bandwidth for some users

Unlimited Limited to 10 Mbps

20 20
15 Mbps 15
Mbps

10 10
5 5
0 0
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Managing Network Traffic
• Content Caching

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Managing Network Traffic
• Content delivery (or distribution) network (CDN)
– Serve content from servers closest to request
– e.g., Akamai

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Configuration Management
• Configuring Network and Clients
– Adding and deleting user accounts
– Updating software on client computers
– Desktop Management
• Documenting Configuration
– Network diagrams
– Network components
– Network software
– User/application profiles

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Configuration Management

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Performance Management
• Many organizations use dedicated network operations
centers (NOCs) to monitor networks using network
management software

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 Performance Management
• Failure control and service management
– Help desk
– Trouble tickets
– Problem tracking
– Problem statistics

Ticket Priority Issue Date Status Assigned

Number Submitted To
11793 1 -HIGH WAN circuit #1 down 31 Jul OPEN Alan
11794 2 - MEDIUM DNS #2 server slow 31 Jul CLOSED Alex
11795 3 - LOW Computer needs more 30 Jul OPEN Alex
RAM

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Performance Management
• Statistics
– Availability (uptime)
– Downtime
– Mean time between failures (MTBF)

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Performance Management
• Quality control chart

2000
Circuit B
1800 moved to
Circuit C new
1600 microwave
had new
1400 hardware channel
here
1200
Circuit A
1000 Circuit A is
Circuit B
deteriorating
800 Circuit C
600
400
200
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
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Copyright © 2015 John, Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
End User Support
• Solving the problems users encounter while using the
network
• Major sources of problems with user equipment
– Hardware device failures, generally easiest to fix
– Lack of user knowledge on proper operation, also
easier to fix
– Problems with software, software settings or software
incompatibility, generally hardest to fix
• Training is an ongoing responsibility of network manager

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Copyright © 2015 John, Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Cost Management

• Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

– A measure of direct and indirect costs to operate a device (e.g.,
computer) per year
– Includes cost of
• Repairs and software/hardware upgrades
• Support staff (maintain, install, administer, etc.)
• Training and technical support
• Time “wasted” by the user when problems occur
– TCO of a Windows computer
• Estimated to be $5,000 and $10,000 per computer per year
• Largest component is lost time
– Some alternative measures (e.g., NCO) only include direct costs
• Estimated at $1,500 – $3,500 per computer per year

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Cost Management
• Largest costs are personnel, not hardware

Network Costs
Other
Application Software 5%
8% End User Support
Network Devices 31%
9%
Client Computers
9%

Systems Management
38%
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Cost Management
• Cost reduction steps
– Develop standard hardware/software configurations for
client computers, servers, and network devices
– Automate as much of the network management
process as possible
– Reduce the cost of installing new hardware/software
by working with vendors
– Centralize help desks
– Move to thin client or cloud-based architectures

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Implications for Management
• Network management requires technical understanding
and management skills
• Managers must explain the business value of the networks
to justify its increasing cost
• Network management is increasing its complexity
• Qualified personnel costs much more than hardware

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