network management


network management

(networking)The process of controlling a network so as tomaximise its efficiency and productivity. ISO's modeldivides network management into five categories: fault management, accounting management, configuration management, security management and performance management.

Fault management is the process of identifying and locatingfaults in the network. This could include discovering theexistence of the problem, identifying the source, and possiblyrepairing (or at least isolating the rest of the network from)the problem.

Configuration management is the process of identifying,tracking and modifying the setup of devices on the network.This category is extremely important for devices that comewith numerous custom settings (e.g. routers and file servers).

Security management is the process of controlling (granting,limiting, restricting or denying) access to the network andresources thereon. This could include setting up and managingaccess lists in routers (creating "firewalls" to keepintruders out), creating and maintaining password access tocritical network resources, identifying the points of entryused by intruders and closing them.

Performance Management is the process of measuring theperformance of various network components. This also includestaking measures to optimise the network for maximum systemperformance (periodically measuring of the use of networkresources).

Usenet newsgroup: news:comp.dcom.net-management.

["Network Management: A Practical Perspective", Allan Leinwandand Karen Fang].

network management

Monitoring an active communications network in order to diagnose problems and gather statistics for administration and fine tuning. Examples of network management products are IBM's NetView, HP's OpenView, Sun's SunNet Manager and Novell's NMS. Almost all network management software supports the SNMP network management protocol. Other management protocols are CMIP and DME. See systems management and configuration management.