Main advantages of IT outsourcing
Network Management - (network management or network administration) - refers to the deliberate impact carried out to organize the work of the network according to a specific program. It includes the following:
- turning on and off the system itself, terminals, and data links;
- fault detection;
- collecting statistical information;
- generating reports, etc..
- failures;
- configuration;
- security;
- considering;
- traffic.
Traditional methods of computer network administration are based on the application of established rules, which consist in prescribing the management system to take specific actions when certain events occur. This may be, for example, issuing a warning message to the management console when traffic volume is exceeded, etc.
It should be noted that the rule-based administration methodology, which is convenient to use in a small network, is not as effective in a large network, in particular, in the network of the computer center and corporate information network. The main difficulty in these cases is that the work of such a powerful computing environment is usually described by a huge number of different parameters.
The task of network administration
LAN management becomes necessary when the network administrator has the need, as well as the opportunity to operate its overall representation. This usually applies to networks with a complex architecture. Administration of computer networks implies the transition from managing the work of individual devices to analyzing traffic in different network sections, managing the logical configuration of the network, its operating parameters. Thus, the tasks of administration can be divided into two main groups:- control over the functioning of network equipment;
- managing the network as a whole.
The key purpose of LAN administration is to achieve and maintain the parameters of the information system that most accurately meet the needs of the user, who can estimate its work not by the characteristics of traffic, the protocols used, the server response rate and the features of scenarios, and the work of the software that runs constantly on his personal computer.
Evolution of administration concepts. The main trend in the field of network and system administration in recent years has been a shift in emphasis from controlling individual resources or groups of resources and managing the technical characteristics of the network structure to fully meet the needs of users. This approach has contributed to the emergence of the so-called concept of dynamic administration, which primarily involves the means of analyzing the behavior of the system user, during which their preferences are found out, as well as the problems that arise in the daily work of users.
The result obtained at this stage should further serve as the basis for active management of effective interaction between the main objects of network administration: the user,
the software and the network. The factors listed above suggest that the next stage in the development of network and system administration will be the management of programs and quality of service, which will not depend on the networks or computing platforms used.
The development of the concept of administration concerns not only the architecture of systems. Problems that have arisen in distributed environments have led to the fact that network management has come to be seen as the main task of system administrators. However, this situation changed when the number of distributed applications and databases operating in a network began to exceed the established value. This led to the strengthening of the role of system administration, initiating the process of integrating the two types of management - system and network management. An integrated network management system is a management that provides a consolidation of functions that are related to the analysis, management, and diagnostics of the network. Thus, the change in network administration tools and systems is directly related to the improvement of modern information technology.
The main goals and tasks of the network administratorThis is a specialist whose area of responsibility includes the normal operation and rational use of the resources of an automated system and computer networks. The administration of information systems includes:
- installation and subsequent configuration of the LAN;
- Maintaining its consistent performance;
- installing basic software;
- monitoring networks.
Based on the above objectives, the network administrator must perform the following functions:
- system planning;
- installation of software products;
- installation and proper configuration of network devices;
- installation of networks;
- data archiving;
- management of user access rights;
- maintaining information security of the network;
Special preventive measures and procedures are of great importance to ensure the health of networks. Also, the administrator must satisfy the authorized user requests. To effectively perform all these tasks, especially in corporate LANs, it is quite difficult, and in some cases impossible, for one person. Therefore, the success of the administration of particularly complex computer networks is possible only under the condition of using modern tools automating management processes.
Automation of network managementAn automated information system (AIS) is a set of hardware and software used to store and manage information, as well as to perform certain calculations. Therefore, an AIS becomes a component of almost every administrative mechanism of a network service and, at the same time, a management platform. A set of applications designed to manage the network and the other systems that make it up is called a network management platform. The purpose of a network service is to use the service provided and to provide a link between the processes occurring in the various subscriber systems.
Computer network managementSpecialists believe that it is most appropriate to manage the network from a single workplace. The need to control network devices using a single PC has contributed to the development of different architectures of platforms and software for administration. The most common among them was the distributed two-tier "manager-agents" architecture. The manager application runs using a control console, interacting continuously with modules (agents) running in various network devices. The agents are responsible for collecting information about the functioning parameters of the resources, as well as for making certain changes in the configuration at the manager's request, and providing him with various administrative information. At the same time, despite its convenience, the use of this scheme causes an increase in the volume of service traffic, and hence a decrease in the bandwidth required for the operation of applications.
In order to at least partially solve the bandwidth problem, a three-tiered scheme is used, whereby a portion of the management functions is delegated to the most important nodes in the network. The managers installed in them, through their network of agents, can control the work of the devices, while acting as agents in relation to the main manager program, which runs on the management PC. As a result, most of the service traffic is localized in separate network segments, because local managers and the administrative console work only when needed.
The key idea behind the improvement of network administration technology is to minimize the role of humans in this process, which involves the creation of software that optimally meets all the challenges of administering network infrastructure. This approach makes the process of administering computer networks much easier, because setting up a single application is much easier and faster than setting up the entire computer network and its associated programs
