Current Status of Network Management Tools - Assignment Example

NETWORK MANAGEMENT TOOLS Number: Lecturer: NETWORK MANAGEMENT TOOLS Network management tools are utilities that are used tomonitor the performance of a network to ensure effective connectivity and communication. These tools are basically used to scan the traffic for errors and calculate the bandwidth utilization (CISCO, 2014). Additionally, these tools provide asset details including software details, OS and hardware information; it also provides information on the general availability and the performance of the network elements (Edward, 1994). For a network to function well in any organization, effective network management tools must be put in place. Essentially, it is important to have a network that is reliable in any organization in order to ensure continuous communication and connectivity. This can only be achieved by choosing the best and cost effective network management tools. Some of the network management tools that are conventionally available include: Bandwidth monitor which is a tool that is used to provide a graphical representation of the real time traffic in a router or a switch. It is an exemplary tool for identification of bottlenecks that are related to the bandwidth within the network. It is used to monitor the percentage utilization of all the interfaces in the device and the average bandwidth per Second (Edward, 1994). Switch Port mapper which is a tool that is used by network engineers to identify the switch port to which a device is connected. This eliminates the need to manually trace the network cables. The tool basically discovers the devices that are plugged into each port of any particular switch in the network. It helps the system and network engineers to identify IP and MAC status and determine availability of ports. Since the tool operates on a real time discovery, it is also possible to view the operational status of each port (Sugauchi, Morisada, Hirata, Miyazaki, & Sato, 2002). Another vital network management tool is the wake on LAN tool which remotely boots up a machine present in the network (CISCO, 2014). Network monitor tool continuously monitors the response time and generates email alerts of multiple devices based on severity (CISCO, 2014). The essay will technically discuss the IP Address Manager (IPAM) tool. This tool helps the network engineers to identify the availability of a network IP address in an enterprise network. The tool periodically scans a subnet and determines the IP address availability in that particular subnet. One can then determine whether a particular IP address is available or not. The tool is advantageous since it allows scanning of multiple subnets and helps to scan the entire network and get the status of IP addresses (Microsoft, 2014). Features of the IPAM network management tool This tool has several features that make it an efficient tool in network management. i) Active directory integration; This feature helps to identify whether the IP address belongs to a computer that is in an Active Directory. The feature is also used to view details of computer objects in an Active directory and subsequently synchronize and update the database (Microsoft, 2014). Additionally, active directory integration provides a view of the details of computers that are connected to the Active directory and provides details such as last login, GUID, created time, Os Name, version among others (Microsoft, 2014). ii) Hierarchical Tree View This feature creates a hierarchical representation of the network and allows easy location of the subnet. IPAM allows the network administrators to create this hierarchical representation and create tree nodes representing usage or location and also enable addition of subnets under them. Additionally, the tool allows easy modification and scanning of subnets in a group (Microsoft, 2014). iii) End –to-end IP details. IPAM tool is used to periodically scan the subnet using SNMP, ICMP, WMI and DNS to acquire details of the IP addresses. This feature of the IPAM tool provides a comprehensive detail of an IP address including MAC address, DNS name, System Name, state, Switch Name, Switch Port, owner , Alias Name among others. Furthermore, the IPAM tool allows the administrator to store user defined values by adding their own column. These columns can be created both at the IP details level and at the subnet level (Microsoft, 2014). iv) Role based Administration This feature is used by administrators to enhance access and control of the network. The Administrator creates user controls and assigns users the role of Administrator or technician. Technician will have limited and read only access while the administrator will have complete access (Microsoft, 2014). v) Flexible scanning. IPAM tool provides flexible scanning both manually or scheduled to run at specific intervals. An administrator has the liberty to also choose scanning options such as Ping, SNMP and DNS among others. Some subnets are placed behind firewalls making them unreachable directly, in this case, the administrator has the ability to disable automatic scanning and manually indicate the status of the IP address as either used or available. Additionally it has the capability to reverse an IP address for a specific use (Microsoft, 2014). The tool is advantageous and offers a flexible and easy way of managing the network. First, the tool offers an effective mechanism for management of IP addresses which is an essential component for communication among computers within a network (Microsoft, 2014). Secondly, the tool provides a flexible way of scanning the network using the ICMP, DNS, WMI and SNMP utilities. It allows scheduled scanning and can also offer multiple scanning of subnets simultaneously (Microsoft, 2014). IPAM also enhances easy access to subnets through hierarchical arrangement and representation of the network. With this hierarchy, it is easy to access the subnets, add other subnets and make any changes to the subnet (Microsoft, 2014). IPAM tool also maintains IP history and Audit; this enables viewing of the history of IP allocations. Additionally, it allows auditing and tracking of changes made to the IP manager tool (Microsoft, 2014).The IPAM tool also enhances security of the network by assigning administrator roles to the users of the system. This minimizes unauthorized access in the network and limits user accessibility and functionalities to the defined levels. This will eventually reduce cases of unauthorized access and also keep track of activities within the network more easily (Microsoft, 2014). Despite these advantages the IPAM tool has some disadvantages as well. IPAM doesn’t support non Microsoft network elements. Additionally, some versions of the IPAM tool do not support external databases; they only support internal Windows databases (Microsoft, 2014). Reference CISCO. (2014). Network Management Tools. Retrieved April 28, 2014, from http://www.manageengine.com/products/oputils/network-monitoring-tools.html Edward, S. (1994). Network Management: Concepts and Tools. Springer. Microsoft. (2014, April 15). IP Address Management (IPAM) Overview. Retrieved April 29, 2014, from http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831353.aspx Sugauchi, K., Morisada, T., Hirata, T., Miyazaki, S., & Sato, T. (2002). Patent No. 6,339,789. . Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Read More