Audience

Whether you are new to Cisco equipment or are a seasoned Cisco router jockey, this book will help you develop an effective network management strategy. It will also help you identify key MIB values, SNMP traps, syslog messages, and show commands that will assist you with analyzing faults and performance.

This book is intended primarily for network engineers and network management engineers who are responsible for the operation and timely resolution of problems in their corporate network. While this book applies generally to the management of Cisco networks, it was specifically written with medium to large enterprise networks (more than a hundred Cisco devices) in mind.

Specifically, the following people will benefit from this book:

• Network operations managers can develop an understanding of the process of crafting an effective network management strategy.

• Network engineers can obtain a detailed understanding of device and technology operations from a management perspective.

• Network management teams can use this book as a reference when crafting a network management strategy.

• New Cisco customers will learn about the management capabilities of Cisco devices and have a reference for quickly establishing management of the devices.

• Customers of other network device vendors can learn how to implement effective performance and fault management. Although some of the MIB references are Cisco specific, the concepts apply to all types of network routers and switches.

• Network equipment sales engineers, consultants, and developers of commercial network management software will find this book useful for identifying characteristics that must be monitored by or for their products.

The book assumes a working knowledge of network management and thus does not discuss basic network management methodologies. The references at the end of each chapter refer to useful publications that will assist readers who want to learn more about prerequisite topics.