Network Management
A cost-effective way to manage the WAN
A service-embedded network-management
service lifts the IT burden while giving the
enterprise visibility and control.
by Tony Hurtado
Enterprise networks are becoming more
complicated as IT staffs converge multiple
services onto a single IP-based platform.
Increasingly, corporate networks must
support voice over IP (VoIP) and IP
videoconferencing solutions without
impacting the quality and performance of
other applications. The increasing
sophistication of real-time applications and
ever-changing networks create constant
network-management challenges. Network
executives often decide to either build a
network-management solution or outsource
this work to a third party. A
service-embedded wide-area network (WAN)
management solution, however, is another
alternative.
This option captures the session header
information inside the provider edge
network, eliminating the need for hardware
or software on the enterprise side. This
approach involves leveraging deep-packet
processing, enabled through the
service-packet mirroring feature. The
mirroring feature allows the service
provider to capture all session header
information for network traffic on a given
circuit, not just a five-minute traffic
sample, and store the information on servers
placed in a secure location inside the
service provider's network.
Although the traffic is mirrored and
recorded on the provider edge of the
network, the service actually records the
session header information when the traffic
enters and leaves the customer edge of the
network-at the demarcation point. Analysis
of the session header information can begin
within seconds of when the traffic has
traversed the WAN. This gives the enterprise
an immediate and detailed reading of its WAN
traffic.
The deep-packet processing is an
essential part of the service-embedded
approach. The session header information is
stored on secure servers inside the provider
network, while customers are provided secure
access to network statistics. The service
provider, however, should have sophisticated
Web-based tools to allow the enterprise
network administrator access to this
information for viewing and reporting.
Because all session header information is
captured, robust tools should be able to
present granular and dynamic network
performance analysis and reporting
capabilities. These tools should allow
network administrators to perform network
traffic forensics to study application
performance in several ways. For example,
some of the tools available today provide
network traffic analysis by application
type, IP address, port address, protocol and
quality-of-service level.
Other tools include active
network-at-a-glance capabilities to
understand network traffic flows at primary
locations quickly. This information presents
ingress and egress traffic patterns at major
locations, with information on recent
changes in traffic levels and immediate
access to traffic information to all
locations from any site on the managed
network.
Network managers also should have visual
cues to alert them if available bandwidth
utilization at any location is approaching
designated alarm levels. These cues would be
in addition to alarm levels set by the
administrator on specific network traffic
metrics, allowing the administrator to
quickly assess potential problem areas and
send various alerts to designated personnel
when those thresholds are exceeded.
There are several advantages to the
service-embedded network management
approach. All session header information,
for example, is mirrored inside the provider
edge router as the application packets take
their normal path through the network.
Because the application is not redirected or
touched in any way, there is no impact on
network traffic; therefore, there is no
impact on latency.
In addition, the service is completely
embedded in the provider's network, so
network bandwidth or equipment is not tied
up. The network administrator can view
network performance securely and
conveniently from anywhere Internet access
is available.
The service also is always available at
any time without any equipment or
integration effort required. There is no
waiting to begin getting meaningful network
statistics and reports. The service is
simply turned on, and the session header
traffic is recorded for viewing.
The embedded network-management service
can be offered on a circuit-by-circuit
basis, making the solution easy to scale.
The network administrator can implement this
service at any and all locations at any
time. New locations are simply turned on and
automatically integrated into the service
for immediate viewing.
Finally, the costs for an embedded
management service can be substantially
lower than the cost of an in-house solution.
There are no hardware, software or
integration costs, and no maintenance fees
to pay. The service is offered at a monthly
rate.
Embedded network management also opens
the door for future advanced network
services. For example, some providers are
developing network service-oriented
architectures (SOAs) that allow network
events or scheduled activities to drive
network adjustments. Using network
conditions and actual (or predictive)
customer demand, fine-tuning network
policies managed by the enterprise can
trigger network modifications, including
bandwidth reallocation or increases, as well
as deployment of network optimization
routines. Other capabilities will include
the network SOA that will allow for resource
allocation based on regional, time-of-day,
day-of-week or monthly requirements.
Tony Hurtado is vice president of
global marketing and public relations at
Masergy, Plano, Texas.
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