1. NOC Services and Applications1 Sunday Folayan

2. NOC Services and Applications2 What is Network Management? “In order to operate a reliable service, the network must be managed according to a determined discipline, using a coherent structure of information management.” Geoff Huston, ISP Survival Guide

3. NOC Services and Applications3 How do I manage my network? n Which tools should I use? What do I really need? Keep it simple! Need to consider engineers working remotely Don’t want to spend too much time maintaining the tool (it should be helping you!) Different tools for NOC and engineers Different tools for statistics RELIABILITY!

4. NOC Services and Applications4 Network Management - Components Parts of Network Management Configuration/Change management Performance/Accounting management Fault management Security management

5. NOC Services and Applications5 Configuration Management Maintaining information relating to the design of the network and its current configuration n Network State Record of network topology –Static Õwhat is deployed Õwhere it is deployed Õhow it is attached ÕWho is responsible for it ÕHow do I contact them –Dynamic Õoperational status of the network elements

6. NOC Services and Applications6 Configuration Management n inventory management database of network elements history of changes & problems n directory maintenance all hosts & applications nameserver database n host and service naming coordination "Information is not information if you can't find it"

7. NOC Services and Applications7 Configuration Management Operational Control of network n Start/stop individual components n Alter configuration of devices n Load and save config versions n Hardware/Software upgrades n Methods of access SNMPGet / SNMPSet Out-of-Band access

8. NOC Services and Applications8 What is SNMP? Simple Network Management Protocol n query - response system can obtain status from a device standard queries, enterprise specific n query routers for: in and out bytes per second CPU load, uptime BGP peer session status n query hosts for: network status Message queues Web traffic, Squid proxy load

9. NOC Services and Applications9 Configuration Management nnhvd husc6 harvard geo oitgw1 mghgw sphgw1 wjhgw1 wjh12 generali talcott harvisr huelings pitirium nngw lmagw1 dfchtch SNMP driven display

10. NOC Services and Applications10 Performance Management A Consistent level of network performance n Data collection –interface stats –throughput –error rates –usage –percent availability n Data analysis for performance metrics and trends n Establishment of performance thresholds n Capacity planning and deployment

11. NOC Services and Applications11 MRTG

12. NOC Services and Applications12 Accounting Management n What do you account for? Use of the network and the services it provides n Types of accounting data RADIUS/TACACS accounting data from Access servers Interface statistics Protocol statistics n Accounting Data affects Business Models Bill on usage? Flat-rate billing?

13. NOC Services and Applications13 Fault Management n Identify the fault Regular polling of network elements n Isolate the fault Diagnosis of the network components n Respond to the fault Allocate resources to resolve the fault Priority scheduling Technical/management escalation n Resolve the fault notification

14. NOC Services and Applications14 Fault Management - Fault Detection How can you tell if there is a problem with the network? Network Monitoring Tools –common utilities Õping ÕTraceroute ÕEthereal ÕSnmp –Monitoring Systems ÕNOCol ÕBig Brother ÕNagios etc… Report state or unreachability –detect node down –routing problems

15. NOC Services and Applications15 Fault Management:Ticket System n system provides for: short term memory & communication scheduling and work assignment referrals and dispatching oversight statistical analysis long term accountability

16. NOC Services and Applications16 Fault Management - Ticket Usage n create a ticket on ALL calls n create a ticket on ALL problems n create a ticket for ALL scheduled events n copy of ticket mailed to reporter and mailing list(s) n all milestones in resolution of problem maintain the same ticket # n ticket stays "open" until problem resolved n Ticket reporter determines that ticket should be closed.

17. NOC Services and Applications17 Security Management: Do’s & Don’t’s  Dont’ leave things that are likely to be interesting to mice lying on the kitchen table overnight  Plug the holes that mice are using to get into the house  Don’t provide places within the house for mice to build nests  Set traps along walls where you often see mice out of the corner of your eye  Check the traps daily to rebait them and to dispose of squashed mice. Full traps don’t catch mice, and they smell  Avoid using commercial bait-and-kill poisons. Traditional snap traps are best.  Get a cat!

18. NOC Services and Applications18 Security Management - Tools n security tools cops - host configuration checker (www.cert.org) swatch - email reports of activity on machine Tcpwrappers – log connections, restrict access ssh/skey – crypto authentication and communications Tripwire – monitor changes to system files n Keep up to date with security information bug reports –CERT advisories mailing list : Õhttp://www.cert.org./contact_cert/certmaillist.html bug fixes intruder alerts

19. NOC Services and Applications19 Security Management – Good Practice n reporting procedure for security events e.g. break-ins abuse email address for customers to report complaints (abuse@your-isp.net) n control internal and external gateways control firewalls (external and internal) n security log management centralized logging host Stealth logger, so it cannot be compromised

20. NOC Services and Applications20 References n http://www.merit.edu/ipma/docs/isp.html n http://www.nanog.org n http://www.caida.org n http://www.nlanr.net n http://www.cisco.com n http://www.amazing.com/internet/ n http://www.isp-resource.com/ n http://www.merit.edu/ipma n http://www.ripe.net http://www.ripe.net