What is network management? Probably anyone who has had contact with a data network has a different conception of the subject. Depending on the size and complexity of the data network, this form of management could be as simple as having one person check the PCs on the local area network once a week or as involved as having a staff of fifty people armed with beepers and protocol analyzers on 24-hour call. From one network to another, priorities can differ dramatically.

We hope that this book will help the network engineer obtain a clearer view of network management in his or her individual environment. Because network engineers have different expectations and viewpoints, our first goal is to define all the pieces that make up network management. The five categories of network management as defined by the International Organization for Standardization Network Management Forum are the framework for this book. These categories are fault management, configuration management, performance management, security management, and accounting management.

OBJECTIVES

This book is intended for readers interested in the field of network management, whether beginners in networking or seasoned network engineers. To help explain the many concepts in network management, this book is divided into four parts, each with a separate objective.

Part 1: Overview of Network Management is designed to familiarize the reader with network management systems and the five areas of network management. Experienced network managers may want to skim or skip over the first few chapters, as they are fairly basic. The goal is to introduce people who are new to network management to key terminology, definitions, and concepts. Chapter 1 introduces the basic concepts of a network management system and the five areas of network management. Chapter 2 explores network management systems and potential architectures. Chapters 3-7 delve into the five areas of network management in depth, giving the reader insight into accomplishing network management tasks and evaluating tools for a network management system. We also wanted to provide the engineer with a practical means of designing or evaluating a network management system for his or her particular networking environment. Accordingly, for each category of network management, we describe simple, complex, and advanced tools. Although we realize that some of these tools might not exist today, we included them because an engineer could determine that a particular functionality would be useful and might want to pursue its development.

Note: We specifically do not mention products that are on the market today, for several reasons. Given the nature of the technology, announcements of new companies, new products, and enhancements to current network management applications happen almost daily. We prefer to help with the right questions to ask when looking at or evaluating a network management application, leaving the selection as an exercise for the reader. Any products or applications mentioned in the book are examples of what is currently available, and no recommendation is meant or implied.

Part 2: Network Management Protocols describes the two predominant network management protocols in use today. Chapter 8 explains the inner workings of the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), versions 1 and 2. These protocols are the most widely deployed network management protocols on networking devices. Chapter 9 talks about the Common Management Information Services/Common Management Information Protocol (CMIS/CMIP). CMIS/CMIP is the OSI network management protocol and essentially has the same goals, but different implementation details, as SNMP.

Part 3: Management Information Bases is dedicated to all those network engineers who have stared uncomprehendingly at MIB variables such as:

iso.org.dod.internet.mgmt.mib.ip.ipNetToMediaTable.ipNetTo.Media Entry.Type (1.3.6.1.2.1.4.22.1.4)

Sometimes the easiest part of network management is getting information from the network devices. The problem is knowing how to analyze that information. Chapters 10 and 11 describe in detail two standard Management Information Bases (MIBs). A MIB defines all of the possible pieces of information available on a network device. Chapter 10 explains how to use the data in RFC 1213 MIB-II, which is supported on nearly every SNMP-compatible device. Chapter 11 illustrates how to use information found in RFC 1757, the Remote Network Monitoring Devices (RMON) MIB. RMON is becoming prevalent on many networks.

Part 4: Productivity Tools for Network Management introduces advanced ideas for network management systems. Chapter 12 looks at further productivity tools that you would want to see on a complete network management system.

INTENDED AUDIENCE

This book is intended for a broad range of readers interested in network management techniques and technologies:

• Network designers and consultants: Part 1 of this book gives a technical overview of network management.
• Network managers, engineers, and administrators: This book provides an introduction to the many aspects of network management, with an emphasis on tools and protocols in Parts 1 and 2.
• Network management software developers: All parts of this book will give you insight to the problems network management can solve and details on using network management protocols and MIBs.
• Students and other communications professionals: As a thorough introduction to the concepts of network management, all four parts of the book will help you understand this complex topic.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We would like to acknowledge all the people who spent time and effort reviewing our manuscript:

Michael L. Barrow
Wayne Hathaway
Colin Kincaid
Donald Lafferty
Bob Natale
Barbara O'Toole
Cathy Putnam
Richard Weiss

Our special appreciation goes to Debbie Lafferty and Tom Stone for coercing us into this second edition and keeping the faith we would get it done. Also, thanks to everyone else behind the scenes involved with publishing this book.

If you have comments or questions about network management or this book and would like to contact us, you can reach Allan through electronic mail at leinwand@cisco.com and Karen at conroy@cisco.com. You can also reach both of us at Cisco Systems by calling (408) 526-4000.

San Jose, California
A.L.
K.F.C.

0201609991P04062001

About Allan Leinwand Allan Leinwand is a Consulting Engineer at Cisco Systems, Inc. He receivedhis BS in Computer Science from the University of Colorado at Boulder in1988 and has been implementing networking principles and solutions forlarge corporations since that time. He not only designs systems but hasalso written network management tools that help manage those systems.

Karen Fang Conroy works at Cisco Systems, Inc. She received her BSIM/EE from Purdue University in 1985. After years of being a network engineer and network manager, she currently works as a consulting engineer doing network design and technical seminars.

0201609991AB04062001

What is network management? Probably anyone who has had contact with a data network has a different conception of the subject. Depending on the size and complexity of the data network, this form of management could be as simple as having one person check the PCs on the local area network once a week or as involved as having a staff of fifty people armed with beepers and protocol analyzers on 24-hour call. From one network to another, priorities can differ dramatically. We hope that this book will help the network engineer obtain a clearer view of network management in his or her individual environment. Because network engineers have different expectations and viewpoints, our first goal is to define all the pieces that make up network management. The five categories of network management as defined by the International Organization for Standardization Network Management Forum are the framework for this book. These categories are fault management, configuration management, performance management, security management, and accounting management. OBJECTIVES This book is intended for readers interested in the field of network management, whether beginners in networking or seasoned network engineers. To help explain the many concepts in network management, this book is divided into four parts, each with a separate objective. Part 1: Overview of Network Management is designed to familiarize the reader with network management systems and the five areas of network management. Experienced network managers may want to skim or skip over the first few chapters, as they are fairly basic. The goal is to introduce people who are new to network management to key terminology, definitions, and concepts. Chapter 1 introduces the basic concepts of a network management system and the five areas of network management. Chapter 2 explores network management systems and potential architectures. Chapters 3-7 delve into the five areas of network management in depth, giving the reader insight into accomplishing network management tasks and evaluating tools for a network management system. We also wanted to provide the engineer with a practical means of designing or evaluating a network management system for his or her particular networking environment. Accordingly, for each category of network management, we describe simple, complex, and advanced tools. Although we realize that some of these tools might not exist today, we included them because an engineer could determine that a particular functionality would be useful and might want to pursue its development. Note: We specifically do not mention products that are on the market today, for several reasons. Given the nature of the technology, announcements of new companies, new products, and enhancements to current network management applications happen almost daily. We prefer to help with the right questions to ask when looking at or evaluating a network management application, leaving the selection as an exercise for the reader. Any products or applications mentioned in the book are examples of what is currently available, and no recommendation is meant or implied. Part 2: Network Management Protocols describes the two predominant network management protocols in use today. Chapter 8 explains the inner workings of the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), versions 1 and 2. These protocols are the most widely deployed network management protocols on networking devices. Chapter 9 talks about the Common Management Information Services/Common Management Information Protocol (CMIS/CMIP). CMIS/CMIP is the OSI network management protocol and essentially has the same goals, but different implementation details, as SNMP. Part 3: Management Information Bases is dedicated to all those network engineers who have stared uncomprehendingly at MIB variables such as: iso.org.dod.internet.mgmt.mib.ip.ipNetToM