Summary

The theory and practice of network management are separate and distinct. Effective network management requires a broad range of software tools. Two approaches can be taken: Build one all-encompassing system or divide and conquer via a number of packages. The latter is the philosophy adopted in NNM and reflects the fact that computing power is increasingly inexpensive. Specialized software can be employed for areas such as mediation, billing, and performance analysis. The cost of ownership and development can be significantly lowered by the use of standard COTS packages. Java-based software can facilitate the use of standard browsers for (thin client-based) network management. Discovery, mapping, and monitoring are often inextricably interwoven, and along with fault management, these are the big "readers" from the network. They are the means by which the NMS attempts to keep pace with changes in the network.

Minimizing the gap between the network situation and that perceived by the NMS is crucial and provides a baseline for defining the quality of a given NMS. Provisioning both writes to and reads from the network as it executes the user 's commands. Fault management can perhaps be considered the most crucial of all NMS facilities. The workflows associated with enterprise and SP networks share some similarities, but the financial cost of downtime may be more keenly felt in the latter. We briefly explored the reasons why it is often said that the network is the database. All NMS have a boundary, particularly those that encompass more than one service or technology.