What Network Management Means to You
Network management can mean a lot of things to different people. In some instances, it involves a solitary network consultant monitoring a particular network activity with an outdated protocol analyzer. In other cases, network management involves a distributed database, auto-polling network devices, and high-end workstations creating real-time graphic views of network topology changes and traffic. But on a general scope, network management is simply service that employs a variety of tools, applications, and devices to assist a human network manager or managers in monitoring and maintaining networks.
Most network management systems use the same basic structure and set of relationships. End stations (managed devices) like computer systems run software that enables them to send alerts when they identify problems. After receiving these alerts, management entities are programmed to react by performing one, several or a group of actions which includes operator notification, even logging, system shutdown, and automatic attempts at system repair.
