Network Management in Wireless Environment

As the corporate enterprise network grows, so does the dependency on the network and the applications that utilize it.

The complexity and reliance of corporate operations on enterprise networks requires the utilization of comprehensive management tools to manage, monitor, and troubleshoot the network. The major goals of a network management system are:

The general requirements of a network management system as defined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is The Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) Management Functional Areas. The acronym FCAPS is used to represent the key elements of the ISO definition:

Fault management encompasses the activities of detection, isolation, and correction of abnormal network operation. Fault management provides the means to receive and present fault indication, determine the cause of a network fault, isolate the fault, and perform a corrective action.

Configuration management activities include the configuration, maintenance, and updating of network components. Configuration management also includes notification to network users of pending and performed configuration changes.

The ability to track network usage to detect inefficient network use, abuse of network privileges or usage patterns, is included in accounting management, a key component for planning network growth.

Performance management tools are used to recognize current or impending performance issues that can cause problems for network users. Activities include the monitoring and maintenance of acceptable network performance, and collection and analysis of statistics critical to network performance.

Security management encompasses the activities of controlling and monitoring the access to the network and associated network management information. This includes controlling passwords and user authorization, and collecting and analyzing security or access logs. The goal of a network management system is to provide the above functionality in a concise manner that views the entire network as one homogeneous entity.

Network management systems rely on defined standards to interface to network devices for monitoring and controlling their configuration, performance and functionality.

SNMP is the basis for most modern network management since it provides multi-vendor network management systems the ability to manage network devices from a central location. SNMP includes standard protocols, databases and procedures that are used to monitor and manage devices connected to the network. Nearly all vendors of network-based components, computers, bridges, routers, switches, etc., offer SNMP. Basic SNMP components are:

A management station or console is the user interface component of the network management system. It provides the applications to configure, monitor, analyze, and control the various components that comprise the network.

An agent is the program that resides on a given network device that responds to requests from the Management Console or generates events (traps) based on configured parameters.

The MIB is the management database for a given network component. There is a standard definition of a MIB for every device that is supported by SNMP. The Management Station monitors and updates the values in the MIB, via the agent. SNMP provides three main functions, GET, SET, TRAP to retrieve, set device values and receive notification of network events.

A proxy agent is the program used to support devices that do not have an SNMP implementation available. The proxy is an SNMP management agent that services requests from the management console, on behalf of one or a number of non-SNMP devices.

RMON is a specification that was developed to provide a standard interface between a Management Station and remote monitoring agents or probes. Remote monitoring agents are used to gather network statistical information to diagnose network faults and performance issues. RMON defines additional MIBs that collect this performance information.

Although they share standard elements and mechanisms, wired and wireless networks have significant differences. In addition to the conventional wired network, wireless networks have the following unique issues:

The wireless network environment is hierarchical, with mobile units attached or associated to a given access point. Standard Network Management products designed for wired networks cannot represent this critically important tiered topology network structure, since they represent the wireless network as a "Flat Topology."

The wireless network environment supports dynamic cell connection or roaming, which is the process of changing the network connection of a mobile device from one access point to another. This is a unique component within the wireless environment.

In an environment that is comprised of hand-held mobile units, the persistence of the terminals also becomes a factor. Unlike desktop systems or other network components that operate continuously or are powered on/off daily, hand-held terminals are turned on and off frequently throughout the day, making it difficult to monitor these devices.

The ability of devices utilizing wired and wireless networks to "host" an SNMP agent is another differentiating factor that impacts network management functionality. Desktop or laptop systems have adequate amounts of memory and processor power to support an SNMP agent operating as a background task handling requests from the Network Management station. However, on hand-held terminals, typically running DOS, memory space and processor speed are highly limited resources, making it difficult to provide agents for these devices.

Due to the continually changing wireless network environment, established network management systems have not incorporated the necessary support for unique issues associated with wireless networks. Instead, they rely on the wireless vendors or third parties provide "management applications" that can be incorporated into their enterprise network management system to manage the wireless component of the system.

Symbol's Wireless Network Management System (WNMS) is a network management component that has been specifically designed to solve network management issues associated with mobile computing devices in a wireless network. SpectrumSoft's WNMS is seamlessly integrated into the corporate enterprise network management platform. Providing the network manager the ease of working in a single management environment, it helps to avoid the additional expense of purchasing, training, and maintaining a new management tool.

Features	FCAPS	Benefits
Event Notification	F	Real-time updates on important network events
Access Point Configuration Group Management Configuration Database SNMP Standard Support	C	Time Saving, Increased Accuracy Don't have to do each one separately. Maintains configuration consistency.
Monitoring Graphical Representation of network data Group Monitoring A	P	True Hierarchical WLAN representation Group and Topological Focus, increases usability and provides abstraction. Grouping decreases the network's complexity.
Configurable Access Control List	C, S	Controls devices that can attach to the network
Network Mapping	C	Association to physical world
Drill-down or component zooming	F	Expand information as required.
Auto Discovery	C, A	New devices are automatically recognized. No additional configuration is required.
Wireless Proxy Agent	F	Supports non-SNMP mobile devices.Scalable, supports multiple agents on multiple platforms. Keeps tracks Mobile Units with in WLAN.
Diagnostics	F	Analyze potential problem areas.
Statistical Reports	A, P	Track and trend network traffic and usage information. Pro-active analysis of network balance issues.
Firmware and software revision control	C	Remote management of remote system components from a central location. No service calls for software upgrades.
Key:	F: Fault Management C: Configuration Management A: Accounting Management P: Performance Management S: Security Management

As the use of wireless networks continues to expand, so must the functionality provided by wireless network management systems. Symbol's SpectrumSoft WNMS will incorporate support for:

SpectrumSoft WNMS will be made available for a number of enterprise network management platforms. The modular design and the use of standard interfaces provide an easy integration path into a variety of enterprise network management platforms, including: