On the performance management of heterogeneous networks using SNMP

Abstract

and WANs with multi-vendor devices strongly perceives the need for an effective network management system. This burgeoning demand has lead to proliferation of different ways of managing and monitoring the devices. As a result there are a number of platforms and tools developed for and by diverse groups of end users- from academia to industry-which integrate multiple management functions. However, considering the wide range of network management issues, no single network management product can effectively address the myriad needs of a typical distributed network viz. simple IP node discovery, alarm handling, modeling or performance monitoring. Based on an extensive analysis of these tools on (live' network devices, a design strategy for a Performance Management solution using SNMPvI is put forth. In order to support a mid-level manager framework for remote monitoring, the most important aspects focussed on are-Management Information Base (M1B) management and monitoring strategies. This approach proposes the merging of the existing peer and the hierarchical network management architectures. This scheme also examines the various implications and emphasizes the need and ways to use some of the new features of SNMPv2. These could be built upon by complete coexistence with vl. Parallel growth in remote monitoring and Web based management has been explored so that the mid-level manager is remotely accusable and could be deployed on any system.