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Cisco Network Mgmt Protocol FAQ: Management Functions and Reference Models: Getting Organized

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Cisco Network Mgmt Protocol FAQ: Management Functions and Reference Models: Getting Organized

Q1. What does FCAPS stand for?

Answer: Fault, Configuration, Accounting, Performance, and Security.

Q2. What does OAM&P stand for?

Answer: Operations, Administration, Maintenance, and Provisioning.

Q3. What is the difference between alarm filtering and alarm correlation?

Answer: Alarm filtering lets alarms pass only if they meet a certain criteria, such as if they have a certain severity. The alarm itself is left untouched. If alarms do not meet the criteria, they are simply dropped. Alarm correlation, on the other hand, preprocesses information from alarms and, in the process, modifies alarms that are sent. For example, alarm correlation might generate additional information that is added to the original alarm, such as information that one alarm is likely related to another, or might replace alarm information, such as sending an alarm about a suspected root cause instead of alarms for each symptom that is believed to be caused by that same root cause.
Figure: Alarm Filtering vs. Preprocessing

Q4. The management functions discussed in this chapter pertain not only to the element management layer that deals with individual pieces of equipment, but really to any management layer. Give an example of a fault at the element management layer, an example of a fault at the network management layer, and an example of a fault at a service management layer.

Answer: Element management layer: Failure of a card
Network management layer: Loss of connectivity between two devices—for example, cannot ping system A from system B
Service management layer: Degraded service—for example, for a voice service, no dial tone or excessive post-dial delay (time from dialing a phone number to hearing a ring tone)

Q5. Give an example of a configuration operation at the element management layer, a configuration operation at the network management layer, and a configuration operation at the service management layer.

Answer: Element management layer: Configure a host name
Network management layer: Establish a permanent virtual circuit (PVC) between systems A and B
Service management layer: Add telephony service (Voice over IP) for employee Smith, including caller ID, a voice-mail box, call forwarding, and international calling privilege

Q6. Give an example of an event sent by a network device that supports an accounting management function. Give an example of an event that supports a security management function.

Answer: Example of an event that is relevant for accounting management: call proceeding, start time = xxx, called party number = yyyy, call ID = zzzzz Example of an event that is relevant for security management: failed logon attempt, origin identification = yyyy

Q7. Provide a technical reason, not a marketing reason, for why a service provider might choose to provide flat-rate billing.

Answer: The service provider might not have the technical capability to reliably collect usage-based accounting information and provide an itemized bill to end customers.

Q8. Performance and accounting management are similar, in that both are interested in collecting usage data from the network. Describe an important way in which the use of this data and the requirements for its collection differ.

Answer: The purpose of collecting the data is different. Performance management is interested in using the data for statistical purposes, such as getting an idea of overall load and utilization of the network and detecting statistical trends. Accounting management is interested in using the data as the basis for billing and attributing usage data to the actual users. Accordingly, the data-collection requirements for accounting management are much more stringent than for performance management. The data collected must be complete— after all, each piece of accounting data that is lost could result in lost revenues. Performance management, on the other hand, can generally afford to lose some data, as long as the remaining sample is statistically relevant.

Q9. “I have no need for security management functions because I am using a dedicated and secure
management network.” Please comment on this statement.

Answer: Although a dedicated and secure management network goes a long way toward securing the management of the network, it does not protect against all security threats, some of which could come from the inside. In addition, it does not address how to manage security threats that are directed at the production network (that is, the network that is being managed) itself, such as denial-of-service attacks. By turning a blind eye to these aspects, the network is left dangerously exposed.

Q10. Provide a rough sketch of how OAM&P and FAB relate.

Answer: The following table provides a rough sketch of the relationship between OAM&P and FAB.
O A M P
Fx — — — X
A X — X —
B — X — —

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