Network Management
Network management is a field employed in networking to effectively operate, administrate, and maintain networks using efficient procedures, methods, and tools. The objective of network management is to have an error-free network and maintain its best performance (Aarikka-Stenroos & Ritala, 2017). This is done by seasoned IT experts who are knowledgeable in the field. This set of procedures done are termed as Network Monitoring Protocols.
Roles of Network Management in an Organization
Fault Management
Faults are abnormalities that occur in the network that need immediate repair. An example would be a cut-telephone line. When faults occur, end-users expect a swift resolution by the network provider. Network management strategies ensure a proactive prevention scheme for faults in enacted. When they occur, the first step is detection and isolation to ensure that the rest of the network is still running. The correction time should be minimized to reduce network downtime for the end-users (Aarikka-Stenroos & Ritala, 2017).
Performance Monitoring
Network management also involves usual performance tuning. This will involve two steps monitoring and controlling. Monitoring is tracking activities in the network and their cost to the overall performance. Controlling enables performance management to make adjustments to improve performance. The principal metric involved in performance management is the time taken to respond to the user. Performance statistics help the network manager’s plan and evade bottlenecks that might cause problems to end-users.
Security administration
Perhaps this is the most crucial and vital role of network management. Security management provides channels of protecting network resources and useful information. It involves the storage and auditing of records and logs. Monitoring of who is accessing the network and the privileges of access is also crucial in this role. Due network management ensures no security risks are quantified, and the end user’s data is not jeopardized or stolen.
Tools for Network Management
Various tools are used across organizations to manage their network infrastructure. They also implement set network protocols. Many software companies have developed tools to assist with network management. The most notable being Microsoft and IBM. Their tools assist in real-time and dashboard management of networks in an organization. Some of the tools include (Apathotharanan & Devarajan, 2016)
IP monitoring tools
An IP Address Management (IPAM) software will manage the many IP addresses accessing the enterprise network. It will reduce time spent on tracking IP addresses and the administration of those IPs that access the network.
Firewall monitoring tools
Firewalls across the network generate a lot of statistics and data that need to be managed. This tool helps administrators manage this data both in real-time and historical data.
Bandwidth management tool
Such helps the network manager identify which devices are consuming up the network’s resources. It sorts consumption among devices, users, and applications.
Telephone monitoring tool.
These tools are all about cutting costs involved in the telephony of a company. They regulate call time, call quality, and call routing to reduce telephony usage and cut expenditure organizations use on calls.
Tools for Monitoring Network Performance
Network performance is defined as the service quality provided by a network (Gigamon, 2020). The following factors affect performance: traffic, availability, errors, CPU, and memory. These metrics determine the quality of a network. Various tools are incorporated in monitoring these metrics and their effect on the system. Tools used include:
Remote Throughput Ping Load (RTPL)
It is used by the system admin to view the network performance from the user’s perspective. A test is initiated from a remote shell command from a different location to find measurements using round-trip and throughput between participating locations (Apathotharanan & Devarajan, 2016).
UDPMon
Uses two programs, a listener that receives test data and a monitor that performs the test to the remote host. It estimates the maximum usable bandwidth between the two end-nodes (Apathotharanan & Devarajan, 2016).
Multi Router Traffic Graphed (MRTG)
This tool monitors network performance by monitoring network links’ traffic load (Apathotharanan & Devarajan, 2016). It uses SNMP as its underlying technology and logs the traffic data to web pages.
Roles of Remote Access in Network Management
Allows for mobility with control
Remote access allows the IT staff to manage network management in diverse locations and still manage the network. This means that the team does not always require to be on-site to keep track of the network infrastructure. This allows working from home, across the world, or even in a local coffee shop; thus, the organization network can never lag (Söderholm et al., 2019).
Real-time network monitoring
Co-mmunity, for example, is an organization where employees are located across the world, and its network reach is global. Remote access allows for staff located across different locations to view the network performance in real-time. If there is an error, the nearest team can make a mitigation effort without involving the headquarters.
Management of access level
Security is a critical concept in network management. Remote access ensures this by providing different user access levels (Söderholm et al., 2019). Customizing the access level safeguards network security. Remote access allows you to control the span a user has on network management, that being a particular area or a specific group.
Management of remote offices
An organization whose network reach is across different locations is an extensive system. Remote access increases productivity and saves time when an individual network device, tool, or entity goes down; troubleshooting can be done from the current location without requiring movement. This allows for efficient and effective management of the organization’s network infrastructure (Söderholm et al., 2019).
Strategy for Managing Current Network Infrastructure
CO-mmunity is an organization that has employees spread to a global scope. Their main communication channel is via WLAN stationed at the headquarter and a gateway connected to the broader internet. Setting up an organization’s network communication infrastructure would involve more remote access to the IT staff managing the network. The organization also risks data transfer from one workstation to another. To counter this, the company should use a virtual private network that can be accessed by proxy from any internet-enabled device. Administrator privileges to the network should also be decentralized for easy fixes. A constant and proactive monitoring program should also be in continuous activity. This will pin-point security loops and patch holes in the infrastructure as they come. The network can also be throttled to allow some users to access the central system while distributing to the more inferior employees. This step will prevent risks of stolen data and will reduce bandwidth to the network.
Conclusion
Network management in an organization is very crucial for its success. The IT team should carefully implement an efficient network design and strategy to co-exist with the infrastructure available. The goal should be to minimize the costs involved while maximizing resources available. The end-user is always the priority, and suitable network investments, even in CO-mmunity will see the organization’s growth.