Network Management Tools
The term network management” is a large umbrella covering just about everything related to teleport monitor and control systems as well as management systems for local area and wide area networks. With the widespread adoption of IP, teleport operators are increasingly being asked to manage their client’s networks, not just uplink satellite carriers for the transmission of voice, data and video traffic. As such, the integration and interoperability of these diverse systems are becoming increasingly important. Further, the automation of network management tools is reducing the amount of time needed to diagnose and fix problems, and even identify problems which are likely to occur in the future.
“The automation that newer network management systems provide is extremely powerful,” Hatch says. “For instance, we use Crystal Technologies to manage our teleport operations, and we can automatically monitor thousands of carriers for problems. In the past, problem resolution was all reactive and required a skilled technician or satellite engineer. New [monitoring and control] systems reduce personnel training and labor expenses,” he says.
“Low-cost carrier monitoring systems allow for fast trouble shooting during link failures,” says Keith Hall, president and COO of Globecomm. “In addition, Ethernet-interfaced subsystems with GUIs, such as the Avcom L-band spectrum analyzer, make them much easier to interconnect with other network management tools. When it comes to managing the routers and switches in our network, there are a number of different products which provide audible, visual and electronic notification of alarms.”
Taking network management to the next level, the smart appliances from Uplogix not only detect network problems, they can take action directly to solve 20 percent to 40 percent of all network problems, increasing network uptime and allowing teleport operators to get more work done with fewer personnel in their network operations center, the company says. “Uplogix has written advanced drivers for many different brands of satellite modems, Seatel stabilized antennas and Cisco routers and switches,” said Hank Zbierski, director general of IsoTropic Networks, a teleport operator in Lake Geneva, Wis. “That allows the Uplogix gear to interface with different types of network gear directly at the command line interface. For instance, if a Cisco router goes into ROMMon (ROM monitor) state and the operating system can’t boot, the Uplogix appliance can detect the problem and will automate the recovery process without human intervention, and we are all about minimal human intervention. We can also remotely access the console port on any type of hardware through an out-of-band connection should the Uplogix gear not be able to solve the problem on its own. This is like having our best technician or ‘Virtual Valet; plugged into the hardware with a laptop at all times. The automated problem resolution solves many low level network problems, allowing our engineers to get more work done.”
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