Network Management System

Introduction 

Network Management System (NMS) is used to monitor and administer the various components of a computer network, such as servers, routers, and switches. A network management system may be installed on any computer for monitoring and managing the entire network.

What is Network Management System (NMS)?  

NMS is an essential tool that helps maintain the health of the overall network in any organization or clusters of networks across the organization. It is vital to carry out various operations within the organization. Network managers must adopt different strategies to effectively maintain a more extensive network, usually from a central computer using NMS. Recording information and communications across computer networks is vital for appropriate network management.

Some NMS platforms are not just for managing networks but also for managing cloud-based services. An NMS is mainly used in large data centers because it is required to keep track of all components on the network, as well as data centers that are connected to them.

For an NMS to keep track of all components on a network, it needs two things: how many devices are connected (or how many computers or users) and what they do (data collection).

The primary purpose of an NMS is to ensure the smooth operation and optimal performance of a network. It enables network administrators to perform various tasks, including:

• Network monitoring

• Fault management

• Performance management

• Configuration management

• Security management

• Reporting and analysis

A Network Management System plays a crucial role in maintaining network stability, security, and efficiency. It simplifies network administration tasks, enhances troubleshooting capabilities, and enables proactive network management to ensure reliable and optimized network operation.

Advantages of a Network Management System  

NMS is a broad family of computer software that supports networking devices such as routers, switches, access points, and remote controls. NMS systems are also known as network controllers because they are typically used to manage networks and other aspects of the network.

A Network Management System (NMS) offers several advantages that greatly benefit network administrators and organizations. Here are some key advantages of implementing an NMS:

Centralized Network Control: An NMS provides a centralized platform for managing and monitoring network devices, configurations, and services. It offers a unified view of the entire network infrastructure, allowing administrators to control and troubleshoot network components from a single interface efficiently.

Proactive Issue Detection: NMS tools continuously monitor network devices, interfaces, and services, enabling proactive detection of network issues. Real-time alerts and notifications notify administrators about potential faults, performance degradation, or security threats, allowing them to address problems before they escalate and impact network operations.

Improved Network Performance: By monitoring network performance metrics such as bandwidth utilization, latency, and response times, an NMS helps administrators optimize network performance. They can identify bottlenecks, plan for capacity upgrades, ensure efficient resource allocation, enhance network performance and user experience.

Efficient Troubleshooting: NMS tools provide detailed insights into network issues, making troubleshooting faster and more effective. Administrators can analyze historical data, track performance trends, and correlate events to identify the root cause of problems. This accelerates the resolution process and minimizes network downtime.

Enhanced Security: NMS systems play a crucial role in network security management. They monitor and detect security breaches, unauthorized access attempts, and abnormal network traffic patterns. Administrators can implement robust security measures, enforce access controls, and respond promptly to security incidents, improving the overall network security posture.

Streamlined Configuration Management: NMS tools simplify the management of network device configurations. They enable administrators to centrally deploy and update configurations, enforce consistency, and ensure compliance with network standards. This reduces configuration errors, improves network stability, and simplifies administrative tasks.

Effective Resource Planning: NMS tools provide valuable insights into network usage, capacity trends, and performance statistics. Administrators can use this information for effective resource planning, such as identifying underutilized or overutilized network segments, optimizing network bandwidth, and planning for future network expansion or upgrades.

Reporting and Analysis: NMS tools offer reporting capabilities, allowing administrators to generate performance reports, trend analysis, and usage statistics. These reports aid in decision-making, capacity planning, and network optimization. They also provide valuable information for audits, compliance assessments, and performance evaluations.

Implementing an NMS offers centralized control, proactive issue detection, improved performance, efficient troubleshooting, enhanced security, streamlined configuration management, effective resource planning, and valuable reporting and analysis capabilities. These advantages contribute to a stable, secure, and optimized network infrastructure, increasing operational efficiency and better user experiences.

Challenges in the Absence of a Network Management System  

The performance of network components can be quickly affected by instability. Diagnosing network issues is physically possible with an NMS, which hampers troubleshooting.

Organizations may encounter disruptions in delivering products, making meeting the service-level agreements (SLAs) easier with an effective NMS solution.

Incorrect network configuration and insufficient network security can produce security risks, putting networks at risk of digital fraud.

Without automated monitoring provided by an NMS, administrators would have to check individual network devices for faults or errors manually. This process is time-consuming and prone to human errors. Troubleshooting network issues becomes challenging as administrators rely on fragmented information from various sources.

Businesses may experience frequent network outages and be impacted by lengthy downtime with no network management system. This can cause revenue and production levels to drop. Not all companies have enough money to pay for significant downtime costs.

How does the Network Management System work?   

Network administrators are responsible for managing the IT network of an organization. They do this by using tools such as NMS to manage their work.

An NMS typically operates as a centralized platform hosted on a server to gather network data from devices. The server can be on-premises, in a private cloud, or the cloud. Network devices, clients, and application information can be sent over the network to the server to update their status. Network administrators can check the network status by logging through a web browser or smartphone app.

An NMS will implement network monitoring, such as packet loss, latency, bandwidth utilization, and more. It can also monitor servers or mobile devices (mobile device management) connected to corporate networks. An NMS can be programmed to monitor specific events, such as firewalls or network traffic, in real-time.

Network administrators use a network management system for a variety of purposes, some of which are as follows:

• Performance monitoring: Track all your network device performances, such as server performance, switch performance, data center performance, router performance, etc. The performance metrics help you monitor packet loss and CPU and memory utilization. In addition, perform Syslog monitoring and trap alerts to get notified about any downtime with network performance.

• Device monitoring:  Enterprise networks can be enormous, with thousands of devices, servers, and machines. An NMS makes device discovery easy, along with managing their configurations. Furthermore, you can back up the network configurations that can be restored in the event of security breaches or data loss. Automate routine and maintenance tasks with the help of scripts, templates, and a Runbook.  

• Forecasting & Alerts: Downtimes are part of network administration; more important is how fast they are detected and resolved. An NMS detects any form of service disruption and notifies the network admin with the appropriate context. In addition, historical performance data also forecasts the potential operational behavior and helps you make confident decisions. The forecasting ability keeps you one step ahead and lets you perform capacity planning and take prior actions about potential issues.

• Reports & Dashboards: Generate customized reports for the key metrics that impact your overall network performance, such as downtime, CPU and memory usage, bandwidth utilization, etc., providing complete visibility across your network enterprise. In addition, NMS offers customized, pre-built, out-of-the-box dashboards based on your requirements. For example, it lets you display the top ten devices with various measured metrics from the entire network architecture.  

Best Practices of Network Management System  

Following the best practices while implanting an NMS into your network enterprise is advised. In addition, the essential strategies that network admins can implement in an IT organization are discussed below.

Identifying Network Architecture: It is essential to study and understand the core infrastructure of your network, the requirements, and the operations performed across your network. The admins need to identify how an NMS can help gain control over the network operations. This also involves meeting standard compliances like HIPPA and PCI, which are legal requirements for health and payment organizations.

Managing Network Traffic: Once the network infrastructure is identified, the next step can be to manage the network components such as security, network devices, and network design. Again, prioritizing these helps you prevent failures and disconnectivity.

Finding a perfect NMS for your Enterprise: A powerful NMS should be able to manage the network with different parameters such as device discovery, traffic flows, risk management, etc. As a result, it helps protect the enterprise from vulnerabilities, secure the network, and grow your business.

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With observability, organizations can observe their performance across on-premises computer systems and cloud components. It captures and isolates network events and will provide data from logs, events, traffic, and metric data to meet business objectives.

Here are some of the key highlights of the platform:  

• Monitor metrics, traffic, streaming, and logs data

• Baselining on KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and traffic data

• Automated network topology mapping (network map) and analysis

• In-depth dependency data mapping

• AI-driven correlation

• Customizable dashboards

• Built-in anomaly detection and forecasting

• Built-in automation runbook engine

• Extend capabilities with custom Plugins

• Intelligent alerting

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