The Benefits of Industry Standard Management Technologies

Large networks consist of a large number of networking devices from many different vendors. In the past, network administrators had to use separate network management systems to support equipment from different vendors. The need for a standard means of managing these large, complex, and heterogeneous networks is apparent. Industry standard management technologies provide the following benefits to users:

Multi-vendor support Industry-adopted standards can all but eliminate the need for a variety of management devices from different vendors. Instead of having to install, utilize, and support technology from many different vendors, industry standards allow users to adopt a single solution (for example, HP OpenView or CiscoWorks2000) as their network management strategy.

Interoperability In addition to supporting a number of different vendors, industry standards allow network management of many different types of networking devices, including routers, bridges, and switches. Standards also provide an efficient and homogeneous interface for these devices, making troubleshooting that much easier.

Flexibility The standards-based approach to network management technology allows ease of growth as new devices are deployed in the network. Since most manufacturers now support industry standards, network designers have greater flexibility in selecting networking equipment that is compatible with their network management solution.

Cost reduction Perhaps the biggest value to a customer is the reduction in overall network management costs that industry standards can provide. By decreasing dependence on a variety of vendors and simplifying the addition of networking devices, companies can decrease their networking costs.

These four benefits of industry standards provide a compelling argument for the adoption of network management solutions that include these non-proprietary open standards over the more proprietary methods used in the past.

This chapter discusses three network management industry standards:

• SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol)

• MIB (Management Information Base)

• RMON (Remote Monitoring)