Management Integration

Management Integration Network Management Spring 2014 Bahador Bakhshi CE & IT Department, Amirkabir University of Technology This presentation is based on the slides listed in references.

Outline • Introduction • Integration perspectives • Integration challenges • Integration approaches • Summary

The Basic Ingredients of Network Management Current Lecture: How are these functionalities implemented and integrated? Previous Lecture: Management Functionalities

Non-integrated Network Management

Integrated Network Management

Management Integration • Different management functions  diverse set of management applications  complicated NM • Management integration  seamlessly integrated and end-to-end management support • Avoids manual procedure and human errors • Avoids cost of employing and training many operators • Reduces amount of redundant data • Reduces management overhead (traffic, computation, storage) • Facilitates management of the management itself • …

NM Integration Perspectives • What is the scope of the NM integration? • It depends on who answers • Different perspectives of NM integration • Equipment vendors perspective • Integrating various element management functions • Enterprise perspective • Integrate management of a network that includes a wide range of different types of devices • Service provider perspective • Many different tools have to be integrated • Each of which might be “fully integrated” from their limited perspective

Equipment Vendor Perspective • Integrated element management application to configure, audit, monitored, back up, restored, … of the vendor equipments • Open and well-documented interfaces as part of the management applications

Enterprise Perspective • End-to-EndMulti-vendorNetwork management • Network level & End-to-End management applications: topology & Routing • Multi vendor support • Vendor-dependent EMSs need to be either replaced by a vendor-independent system or complemented by systems that integrate certain EMS functions

Service Provider Perspective • Service& Businesson multivendor Network • End-to-end connectivity though different devices • Different services provisioning & monitoring • Billing using customer, service, accounting information

Integration Scope & Importance & Cost • As it becomes more important to address management integration in larger scope, it becomes more difficult to do so High CAPEX High OPEX

Management Integration Challenges • Two dimensions affecting NM integration complexity • Management functions need to be integrated across the managed domain • Device heterogeneity • Different features, different mgmt interface, different MIB, … • Services heterogeneity • Different provisioning mechanism, QoS parameters, … • Different management functions have to be integrated • FCAPS functions have many common sub-functions • Relation between functions, e.g., FM needs access to CMDB, which is managed by CM

Management Integration Challenges • Heterogeneity complexity • f(#vendors) * f(#device types) * f(#technologies) • Function complexity • f(#management functions) * f(integration depth) • Scale complexity • f(#ports, #devices) • Management integration complexity • scale complexity ~ (heterogeneity complexity * function complexity)

Management Integration Challenges • Software architecture complications • Challenges due to heterogeneous application requirements • Scalable meanwhile cost-efficient • Flexible & extensible to support new devices • Challenges from conflicting software architecture goals • Different management functions can impose conflicting requirements on the software architecture • Trying to address the needs of multiple management function in a single system inevitably leads to situations in which the best that can be accomplished might be a compromise • Build multiple applications that each serves a particular purpose and simply make sure that they can work well together

NM Integration Approaches • The integration problem is generally too large to be tackled all at once  Trade-off (partial integration) • Not to integrate certain aspects, to lower management integration complexity and cost, at expense of operations • Where to make the cut? (an optimization problem) • Place where a high reduction in management integration complexity and cost results, yet operations efficiency is minimally impacted • How to find the cut? • Look at NM dimensions and decide which dimension is the most crucial for integration  minimize the interactions • E.g. “function dimension”  integrated fault management for all devices • E.g., “management layer”  integrated application for service provisioning

NM Integration: Platform Approach • A common approach to management integration is using a management platform • Software system that provides common infrastructure services for management applications (NM Middleware/Application server) • Typically, software development kits that facilitate the development of additional functionality

NM Integration: Platform Approach • Typically, Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) • Applications need to use those services interact and exchange information with the platform components that provide those services • Some common example services • Database, Device communication (mgmt protocols), Network discovery & inventory, Network configuration cache, Current alarms state, Event collection & registration, GUI framework & API, … • Some common example applications • Topology viewer, MIB browser, Alarm viewer, basic alarm correlation & filtering, …

NM Integration: Platform Approach • Different device support? • Device-specific application logic is not hard-coded into the algorithms of the management platform

NM Integration: Custom Approach • Consists of multiple management systems and applications (components) integrated to work together and collectively form the operations support infrastructure that is used to manage the network • Might better fit the particular needs of an operations support organization • Issues: • Well-defined scope of functionality • All management required functionalities should be covered by components • Component functionalities may overlap

Custom Integration Issues • Issues (cont’d): • Northbound interface, allowing other applications and components on top of it to “flow through” operations to the network • Different requirements (OS, DB, …) by different components • Data mediation between components • Harder to keep updated • Umbrella component: a central coordinator • Such as work-flow: integration activities on system

Summary • In service provider networks, an integrated system is used for network management • OSS (Operations Support System) • Software applications that support back-office activities which operate a telco’s network, provision and maintain customer services • BSS (Business Support System) • Software applications that support customer-facing activities. • Billing, order management, customer relationship management, call centre automation, are BSS applications • In the past, OSS & BSS had a clearer separation; current trend integrated OSS/BSS software

References • Reading Assignment: Chapter 10 of “Alexander Clemm, ‘Network Management Fundamentals’ , Cisco Press, 2007”

Management Integration