LEARN ABOUT MANAGED SERVICE NETWORK
Managed network services describe a wide array of services in which the service provider takes responsibility for more than just the transport function. Some examples include:
- Technology labeled” WAN services (such as Frame Relay and ATM), where the access device (router, FRAD, or multiplexer) is installed and managed by the service provider
- Internet-oriented services, where the level of service is controlled by a service provider; this could include service provider VPNs with reliability, performance, and/or security guarantees
- Managed enterprise networks, where the service provider takes responsibility not only for the WAN and WAN access devices, but also for some set of functions deeper into the premise network, such as the campus backbone, building LANs, servers, and or desktops
- Consolidated access services
- Application and E-Commerce outsourcing (service bureaus)
A number of factors determine the potential profitability of managed network services. These include the customer’s motivation to outsource network services, the customer’s willingness to pay, and the cost of delivering the services. Enterprise customers are finding that they cannot keep up with the pace of innovation in networking technology, yet they fall behind competitively if they don’t. An excellent opportunity exists for service providers to profit from this trend by offering managed network services. This strategy allows service providers to bundle traditional transport services with various levels of network integration services to gain margin and market share.
The public network was designed to handle voice and data services using both analog and digital technologies.
Network management services methods were introduced according to each technology and service. Services and network technologies are advancing rapidly, competition among service providers is intensifying, and customer demand for network access and customized services is increasing. A fundamental means of achieving these desirable changes is through an evolution of existing network management services. Communications between network management Service and network elements will be standardized across vendor-specific implementations through a high-level open system interconnection (OSI) reference model.
Network monitoring service is the information collection function of network management. Network monitoring service applications are created to collect data for network management applications. The purpose of network monitoring service is the collecting of useful information from various parts of the network so that the network can be managed and controlled using the collected information. Most of the network devices are located in remote locations. These devices do not usually have directly connected terminals so that network management service application cannot monitor their statuses easily.
Network monitoring service is the use of logging and analysis tools to accurately determine trafc fows, utilisation, and other performance indicators on a network. Good monitoring tools give you both hard numbers and graphical aggregate representations of the state of the network. Tis helps you to visualise precisely what is happening, so you know where adjustments may be needed.
While monitoring network services can be added to an existing network server, it is often desirable to dedicate one machine (or more, if necessary) to network monitoring. Some applications (such as ntop http://www.ntop.org/) require considerable resources to run, particularly on a busy network. The exception to this rule is in very large installations.
If your network includes more than a few hundred nodes, or if you consume more than 50 Mbps of Internet bandwidth, you will likely need to split up monitoring duties between a few dedicated machines. Here is an example about network monitoring service: