| Automated Discovery and Continuous
Re-discovery
How you populate the network inventory
database is important - the more automated the better.
The true value of discovery, however, is when it is
continuous, maintaining an up-to-date view of the network.
A snapshot is far less useful and, in enterprisesized
installations, it is inaccurate and counterproductive.
Topology as well as Inventory
All network management tools by definition
keep an inventory of the devices. But equally - if not
more - important, are the connections and dependencies
between the devices. The dependencies and topological
relationships enable the most effective root cause analysis,
and allow the most insightful performance analysis.
Real time and Historical Perspective
Previous-generation network management
tools could tell you how the network is performing now,
but not how that compares to previously. This prevented
forensic analysis and made capacity trending difficult.
Current management tools maintain a persistent repository
of inventory, topology, event and performance data,
helping to distinguish incidents from recurring problems.
The vast majority of network issues arise when something
changes. Having a history of versions and connections
for every piece of network gear is invaluable.
Reporting
All network management tools come with
a set of standard templates to report service levels,
but some also allow you to design your own reports,
for specific devices, locations and so on, which many
users find invaluable.
Plays well with others
As management tools converge in the coming
years, it will be important that your network management
system can integrate with other products, either by
exporting its data in batch, incremental, and real-time,
or, to take in data from other management products and
to integrate it in a single view. The ITIL CMDB (configuration
management database) is currently the most promising
and embraced technology in this area, and these management
tools are the best long-term option. |
