Network Management Tools
Performance measurement and reporting tools

Cisco has developed numerous tools to manage and model network traffic flows. Each of the following management tools has a distinct purpose.

CiscoWorks is the Cisco flagship network management product line . It delivers device level monitoring, configuration, and fault management tools. The CiscoView device management software provides dynamic status, statistics, and configuration information for switched products.

CiscoWorks 2000 includes the VPN/Security Management Solution (VMS). VMS is an integral part of the Cisco SAFE blueprint for network security. It combines web-based tools for configuring, monitoring, and troubleshooting enterprise VPNs, firewalls, and network and host-based IDSs. VMS delivers the industry’s first robust and scalable foundation and feature set that addresses the needs of small and large scale VPN and security deployments.

The CiscoView Software graphically displays a physical view of Cisco devices, allowing network managers to monitor remote devices without actually physically checking them. This tool provides monitoring functions and offers basic troubleshooting. The CiscoView Software can be integrated with the following network management platforms:

  • Sun Microsystems SunNet Manager
  • Hewlett-Packard OpenView
  • IBM NetView for AIX

The CiscoWorks2000 Product Line offers a set of solutions designed to assist in managing an enterprise network. These solutions focus on three key areas in the network:

  • LAN
  • WAN
  • Service-level management

With a general move toward fully switched networks and the impetus to include voice traffic within the data network, a greater level of accountability for traffic traveling on Ethernet networks is required than has previously been the case. Additionally, because of the time and possibly financially sensitive nature of VoIP traffic and the breaking up of the switched domain into VLANs, it is desirable to monitor and record the statistics and flows of data from individual VLANs or ports in the network to judge the impact of each on performance.

The Cisco Network Analysis Module (NAM) allows a network administrator to do all of this and also manipulate the network performance information captured to give real time analysis of network performance and advance warning of bottlenecks or failures within a network. The NAM is a module for a Cisco 6500 series chassis that contains hard drive storage to record information captured from a switched network from a number of Switch Port Analyzer (SPAN) sessions implemented on Cisco switches. The NAM can also be accessed through a Web based browser to give interactive information and reports on network performance and statistics based on the information captured.