The ISO Network Management Model

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) defines the types of network management applications that reside on the NMS. Just as the seven-layer OSI model defines function but not implementation for data communications, the ISO network management model defines five areas of network management without specifying specific implementations. Those five areas are as follows:

Fault management Fault management is concerned with the detection, isolation, and correction of any and all non-normal network conditions. The architecture consists of event collectors and event producers. Collectors consist of NMS and Syslog servers. Producers are SNMP agents, RMON probes, etc.

Configuration management Configuration management is concerned with network configuration consistency, change control, and documentation. Granular detail on items such as descriptions on interfaces, IP address control, DHCP and DNS controls, and other policies and procedures are covered. The end results are higher network availability and reduced network operation cost.

Accounting management Accounting management targets the regulation of network resources. Network utilization and actions can be tracked on a per-user basis, and the costs for those resources can be allocated as well.

Performance management Performance management is the management of network response time, quality, and consistency for all services. Baselining and trending lead to SLAs with network “customers.” Performance management is closely related to network capacity planning.

Security management Security management is concerned with the application of security policies regarding network resources. The distribution of security policies, tracking of security-related events, and accounting of access to network resources are included topics. The intentions are to prevent network sabotage, whether intentional or otherwise.

As was mentioned earlier, each of these specifications is meant to be a framework for necessary network management components, not a specification of those components. There are many Cisco (and other) products that fit into one or more of these five categories. The ISO network management model provides a reasonable checklist that can help you identify areas of network management that may be lacking in an enterprise.