Network management is the process of managing a network for performance, reliability, and security. Network management is a broad topic that covers a wide range of activities, from monitoring the network to troubleshooting problems.
The network management architecture is made up of three main components:
- Managed Devices: Managed devices are the devices that are being managed. Managed devices can be anything from a simple switch to a complex router.
- Network Management Station (NMS): The NMS is the software that is used to manage the network. The NMS is responsible for collecting data from the managed devices, for analyzing the data, and for taking action to correct problems.
- Network Management Protocol: The network management protocol is the protocol that is used to communicate between the NMS and the managed devices. The most common network management protocol is the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP).
SNMP is a protocol that is used to manage devices on a network. SNMP is a simple protocol that is easy to use. SNMP is based on the concept of a manager and an agent.
- Manager: The manager is the software that is used to manage the network. The manager is responsible for sending requests to the agents and for receiving responses from the agents.
- Agent: The agent is the software that is running on the managed devices. The agent is responsible for collecting data from the managed devices and for sending the data to the manager.
SNMP uses a set of commands to manage devices on a network. The most common SNMP commands are:
- GET: The GET command is used to retrieve a value from a managed device.
- SET: The SET command is used to set a value on a managed device.
- TRAP: The TRAP command is used to send a notification to the manager.
There are five main network management functions:
- Fault Management: Fault management is the process of detecting, isolating, and correcting faults in the network.
- Configuration Management: Configuration management is the process of configuring the network devices.
- Accounting Management: Accounting management is the process of tracking the usage of the network resources.
- Performance Management: Performance management is the process of monitoring the performance of the network and for taking action to improve the performance.
- Security Management: Security management is the process of securing the network from unauthorized access.
There are many different network management tools available. Some of the most popular network management tools are:
- Nagios: Nagios is an open-source network monitoring tool.
- Zabbix: Zabbix is an open-source network monitoring tool.
- SolarWinds: SolarWinds is a commercial network management tool.
- PRTG: PRTG is a commercial network monitoring tool.