Gathering Information on Application Layer Problems
Network management systems

Network management systems are always software-based tools. They continually monitor the network. There are various types of network management systems and not all are equal.

Network Management System (NMS) functions can be categorized into three main categories:

  • Operations management
  • Device management
  • Service management

Operations management tools are used for active monitoring of day-to-day network administration. The software provides features such as network topology discovery, status monitoring, fault management, and basic real-time performance data. Major vendors include HP OpenView, Computer Associates, and IBM Tivoli.

Device management tools are typically vendor specific. They are used to manage a vendor's network components to make configuration changes to network devices and to apply rules and policies. Most provide graphical tools to interact with actual devices. Examples of device management tools include CiscoWorks, Navis iEngineer (Lucent), and Optivity (Nortel).

Service management tools focus on QoS and service-level guarantee issues. They collect performance data over time that is then used for establishing a baseline, trend analysis, historical usage analysis, and service-level reporting. The tools focus on comparing the expected quality of network resources with actual results. Major vendors include HP, Lucent, and NetScout Systems.