Systems
By Greg Berlocher
Since their inception, network management systems have made the metamorphic change from basic monitoring aids to feature-rich management tools. Built on powerful and robust computing platforms, today's network management systems now can deliver a host of valuable services to corporations, carriers and governments, and the term management system no longer is a misnomer.
Network management systems (NMS) have been around for decades but their functionality was limited, to say the least. In reality, they should not have been called management systems but rather monitor and control systems (M&C). The original M&C systems emulated the front panel display of a piece of remote equipment on a computer screen. This representation provided an operator, or satellite engineer, a virtual look over the shoulder of field personnel to help piece together information regarding service anomalies or service interruptions. M&C vendors had to interface with a myriad of different hardware -- both old and new -- as users wanted to integrate every separate brand and model of hardware they had installed into the system. M&C vendors spent many years building up impressive libraries of device drivers which allowed their proprietary computer systems to talk to a disparate group of satellite hardware.
Convergence
Throughout the last decade, there has been a major escalation in computing power and improvements in transmission protocols and data exchange formats between computer systems. These developments have served as the building blocks for the newest generation of network management systems. Much has been written about convergence. "While satellite is extremely important, it is no longer independent from other technologies," says Mark Krikorian, COO for ILC, a manufacturer of network management systems founded in 1993. "We see ourselves now as managing converged, heterogeneous networks."
While this shift provides a wide range of benefits to end users, convergence has created a number of challenges to those who manage large, diverse networks. The blending of satellite and information technology (IT) groups, traditionally separate entities, is just one result. "The IT and media/video groups are now having to collaborate and learn more about the systems each other use," says Randy Palubiak, president of Enliten Management Group, a consultancy based in Marietta, Ga. "More and more, our clients utilize both satellite and high-speed data circuits to deliver content. Different groups now need to have some familiarization about what the other group does."
Roger Franklin, COO of Crystal Computing Corp., agrees that convergence on network operations is having a significant impact on M&C systems. "We see a tremendous interaction now between the IT and video distribution groups," Franklin says. "IT may be monitoring MPEG video on the corporate [wide area network] but wants to keep an eye on the satellite network as well."
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