Question bank

1. Explain trouble ticket administration.

 A trouble ticket (sometimes called a trouble report) is a mechanism used in an

organization to track the detection, reporting, and resolution of some type of
problem.
 Trouble ticketing systems originated in manufacturing as a paper-based reporting
system; now most are Web-based and associated with customer relationship
management (CRM) environments, such as call centers or e-business Web sites,
or with high-level technology environments such as network operations centers
(NOCs).
 A number of companies make software for trouble ticketing, such as
NesterSoft's Request Commander.
 Several other types of software, such as Bluebird include a trouble ticket
component.
 The Internet Engineering Task Force's Network Working Group specified
requirements for a trouble ticketing system in RFC 1297 (NOC Internal Integrated
Trouble Ticket System Functional Specification Wishlist).
 In the RFC document, the author compares the trouble ticket to a patient's hospital
chart, because both define a problem and help to coordinate the work of several
different people who will work on the problem at different times.
 As a ticket moves though the system, it is usually classified as a certain type of
issue, which in turn determines the skillset and expertise level of the agent(s) the
ticket is assigned to.
 Until the issue is resolved, the "open ticket" for the problem remains in the work
queue, with issues of highest priority taking precedence in terms of work flow.

2. List some common network problems.

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 3. Explain network management perspective.

4. List three different network components in organizational model.

5. Define management Information Tree

Management Information trees:
i. Managed objects are uniquely defined by a tree structure specified by the OSI model and
are used in the Internet model.
ii. The objects in the MIT include network devices such as routers and hosts, virtual objects
such as queues, filters, and events, and objects that Management information system
(MIS) itself or applications create.
iii. A single global MIT provides a single naming scheme for all data.
iv. Figure5 shows the generic representation of the management information tree (MIT).
v. There is a root node and well-defined nodes underneath each node at different levels.
vi. Each managed object occupies a node in the tree. In the OSI model, the managed objects
are defined by a containment tree that represents the MIT.
vii. Figure6 shows the internationally adopted 051 MIT. The root node does not have an
explicit designation.
viii. There are three nodes in the layer beneath the root: iso, ccitt (Itu), and iso-ccitt, (iso-itu).
ix. The Iso defines the International Standards Organization and itu defines the International
Telecommunications Union (the old name is ccitt).
x. The two standards organizations are on the first layer and define management of objects
under them.
xi. The joint iso-itu node is for management objects jointly defined by the two organizations.
xii. The number in each circle identifies the designation of the object in each layer.
 OSI Management Information Tree
xiii. Thus, iso is designated as 1 and org as 1.3, dod (Department of Defense) as 13.6 and the
Internet as 1.3.6.1.
xiv. All Internet-managed objects will be that number followed by more dots and numbers.
Names of the nodes are all in lowercase letters according to conventionASN.1.
xv. The definitions for managed objects are contained in ASN.1
xvi. Language that specifies the management protocol in the application layer, which is
transparent to the rest of the protocol layers, well-proven format is Abstract Syntax
Notation One, ASN.1.
xvii. ASN.1 is more than just syntax. It is a formal language developed jointly by CCITT (now
ITU-T) and ISO for use with application layers for data transfer between systems.
xviii. It is also applicable within the system for clearly separating the abstract syntax and the
transfer syntax at the presentation layer.
xix. We define abstract syntax as the set of rules used to specify data types and structures for
storage of information.
xx. Transfer syntax represents the set of rules for communicating information between
systems.
xxi. Thus, abstract syntax would be applicable to the information model and transfer syntax to
the communication model.
xxii. The abstract syntax can be used with any presentation syntax, depending on the medium
of presentation.
xxiii. The abstract syntax in ASN.1 makes it independent of the lower-layer protocols.
xxiv. The algorithm to convert the textual ASN.1 syntax to machine-readable code is called
basic encoding rules (BER).

6. Define Module in ASN.1.

 ASN.1 (Abstract Syntax Notation One) is a standard way to describe a message (a unit of
application data) that can be sent or received in a network.
 ASN.1 is divided into two parts: (1) the rules of syntax for describing the contents of a
message in terms of data type and content sequence or structure and (2) how you actually
encode each data item in a message.
 ASN.1 is defined in two ISO standards for applications intended for the Open Systems
Interconnection (OSI) framework:
i. ISO 8824/ITU X.208 specifies the syntax (for example, which data item comes
first in the message and what its data type is)
ii. ISO 8825/ITU X.209 specifies the basicencoding rules for ASN.1 (for example,
how to state how long a data item is)
 The notation provides a certain number of pre-defined basic types such as:
i. integers (INTEGER),
ii. booleans (BOOLEAN),
iii. character strings (IA5String, UniversalString...),
iv. bit strings (BIT STRING),etc..
and makes it possible to define constructed types such as:
i. structures (SEQUENCE),
ii. lists (SEQUENCE OF),
iii. choice between types (CHOICE),etc..
 ASN.1 offers extensibility which addresses the problem of, and provides support for, the
interworking between previously deployed systems and newer, updated versions designed
years apart.
 ASN.1 sends information in any form (audio, video, data, etc.) anywhere it needs to be
communicated digitally.
 ASN.1 only covers the structural aspects of information (there are no operators to handle
the values once these are defined or to make calculations with).
 Therefore it is not a programming language.
 This notation is associated with several standardized encoding rules such as the BER
(Basic Encoding Rules), or more recently the PER (Packed Encoding Rules), which
prove useful for applications that undergo restrictions in terms of bandwidth.
 These encoding rules describe how the values defined in ASN.1 should be encoded for
transmission (i.e., how they can be translated into the bytes 'over the wire' and reverse),
regardless of machine, programming language.
 ASN.1's encodings are more streamlined than many competing notations, enabling rapid
and reliable transmission of extensible messages -- an advantage for wireless broadband.
 ASN.1 is widely used in industry sectors where efficient (low-bandwidth, low-
transaction-cost) computer communications are needed, but is also being used in sectors
where XML-encoded data is required (for example, transfer of biometric information).
 Here's an example of a message definition specified with ASN.1 notation: Report ::=
SEQUENCE { author OCTET STRING, title OCTET STRING, body OCTET STRING,
biblio Bibliography }
 In this very simple example, "Report" is the name of this type of message. SEQUENCE
indicates that the message is a sequence of data items.
  The first four data items have the data type of OCTET STRING, meaning each is a string
of eight-bit bytes.

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7. Differentiate between MDB and MIB.

8. Explain MOM concept.

Message oriented Middleware(MOM):

 It is another model used to send and receive the communication messages between clients
and servers.
 It uses data structures like queue to store and retrieve messages.
 When the client is sending the messages faster than the receiver receiving it or the client
is sending the message when the receiver is not available.
 So it uses queuing mechanism between the client and server to avoid the message been
misplaced.
 It is asynchronous mechanism where messages can be sent even though the receiver is
not available
 For eg Email system

1. What is ATM LAN Emulation?

 An emulated LAN comprises a group of ATM-attached end systems
 This group of end systems would be analogous to a group of LAN stations
attached to an Ethernet/IEEE 802.3 or Token Ring/IEEE 802.5 LAN segment
  Each end system on an emulated LAN must have a unique MAC address
 Data interchange between end systems on the same emulated LAN involves the
use of the MAC protocol and is transparent to the upper layers
 An end system on a legacy LAN may exchange data with an end system attached
directly to an ATM network
 The ATM end systems must include a LAN emulation layer that emulates the
MAC layer
 A bridge is required to connect legacy LAN to ATM network
 The bridge logic must be augmented by the capability of converting MAC frames
to and from ATM cells
 Several emulated LANs (ELANs) could be configured within an ATM network
 Membership in an emulated LAN is independent of where an end station is
physically connected
 An end system could belong to multiple emulated LANs
 A broadcast frame originating from a member of a particular emulated LAN is
distributed only to the members of that emulated LAN
 Communication between end systems on different emulated LANs is possible
only through a router

2. Pictorially represent role of SNMP and ILMI in ATM management.

3. What is VPI and VCI in ATM?

 ATM standard defines two types of ATM connections, virtual path connections
(VPCs), which contain virtual channel connections (VCCs).
 A virtual channel connection (or virtual circuit) is the basic unit, which carries a
single stream of cells, in order, from user to user.
 A collection of virtual circuits can be bundled together into a virtual path connection.
 A virtual path connection can be created from end-to-end across an ATM network. In
this case, the ATM network does not route cells belonging to a particular virtual
circuit.
 All cells belonging to a particular virtual path are routed the same way through the
ATM network, thus resulting in faster recovery in case of major failures.
 In this case, all the switches within the ATM network are only VP switches, i.e. they
switch the cells only on the basis of VPIs.
 Only the switches, which are connected to the subscribers are VP/VC switches, i.e.
they use both VPIs and VCIs to switch the cell.
 This configuration is usually followed so that the intermediate switches can do
switching much faster.
  An ATM network also uses virtual paths internally for the purpose of bundling virtual
circuits together between switches.
 Two ATM switches may have many different virtual channel connections between
them, belonging to different users.
 These can be bundled by two ATM switches into a virtual path connection.
 This can serve the purpose of a virtual trunk between the two switches.
 This virtual trunk can then be handled as a single entity by perhaps, multiple
intermediate virtual paths cross connects between the two virtual circuit switches.

1. Explain challenges of IT managers in NMS.

Top challenging activities in managing the network:
• Rapid advance of technology
• Problem analysis—needs human intuition and skill besides sophisticated management
tools
• Anticipate customer demands
• Acquire and retain human resources
• Manage client–server environment in converged networks
• Networking with emerging technology necessitates the need for continuing education
• Collaborative research between academic institutions and industry
• Maintain reliability, that is, make changes, upgrades, etc. without disrupting the
network and impacting business
• Diagnose problems or outages in a non-disruptive manner (without impacting other
users on the network)
• Estimate the value of a technology transition

Elements for which managing network require most of your time:

• A 30-80% growth, 20-70% maintenance based on the organization
• Configuring the management system itself takes most of the time
• Expanding the network
• Gathering and analyzing statistics for upper management review to conduct business

Managing network without an NMS:

• Reactively, not proactively; firefighting
• Troubleshooting tools, e.g., sniffer, ping, etc
• Home-grown systems using an open source, e.g., Multi Router Traffic Grapher
(MRTG)
• Rely on consultant advice and technical information for growth decisions

Problems expected the NMS to resolve:

• Enhance customer satisfaction by meeting the Service Level Agreement (SLA)
• Save time and people resource and thus enhance productivity
 • Turn-around shorter for resolution of problems
• Gather statistics and predict trends for planning purposes
• Document events, Troubleshooting
• Remove constraints and bottlenecks, Fault isolation
• Expect the NMS to do a root cause analysis and pinpoint failures

2. Compare CMIP/CMIS with SNMP.

3. Explain Network Management architecture and organization?
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 4. What is network management? Explain Network management goals in detail.
Definition of network management:
 We define network management as management of the network comprising nodes
and links, and system management as managing system resources, such as central
processor usage, disk usage, and application processes.
 Service management deals with services provided by organizations to customers.
Service management is an extension of network and systems.
 Network management is a service that employs a variety of tools, applications,
and devices to assist human network managers in the control and maintenance of
a network.
 Network management includes the deployment, integration and coordination of
the hardware, software and human elements to monitor, test, poll, configure,
analyze, evaluate the network resources to meet the real-time, operational
performance and QoS requirements at a reasonable cost.
 The combination of hardware and software used to monitor and administer a
network is called Network Management System (NMS).
Goals of N/W Management:
 The goal of network management is to ensure that the users of network are provided IT
services with a quality of service that they expect.
 Toward meeting this goal, the management should establish a policy to either formally or
informally contract an SLA with users.
 From a business administration point of view, network management involves strategic
and tactical planning of engineering, operations, and maintenance of network and
network services for current and future needs at minimum overall cost.
 There needs to be a well-established interaction between the various groups performing
these functions.
 Figure presents a top-down view of network management functions. It comprises three
major groups:
(a) Network and service Provisioning,
(b) Network service Operations
(c) Network I & M (Installation & Maintanance)
 It is worth considering the different functions as belonging to specific administrative
groups, although there are other ways of assigning responsibilities based on local
organizational structure.
 Network pro-visioning is the primary responsibility of the Engineering group.
 The Customer Relations group deals with clients and subscribers in providing services
planned and designed by the Engineering group.
 Network I&M is the primary responsibility of the Plant Facilities group.
 Normal daily operations are the function of the Network Operations group, which
controls and administers a NOC.
 This is the nerve center of network management operations.
 The functions of NOC are primarily concerned with network operations: its secondary
responsibilities are network provisioning and network I & M.
 The associated service operations are handled by a subscriber operation center (SOC) and
customer relations management (CRM). Our focus here is on NOC.
 1. Explain the function of M1 and M2 interface in ATM.
i. The ATM Forum interface reference architecture identifies a series of
management interfaces numbered Ml through M5.
ii. M1 and M2 are the interfaces between a private NMS and either an end user or a
private network, respectively.
iii. The end user can be a workstation, ATM switch, or any ATM device. A private
ATM network is an enterprise network.
iv. A private network management system can access its own network-related
information in a public network via an M3 interface to the public network
management system.
v. The public NMS responds to the private NMS via the M3 interface with the
relevant information or takes the action requested.
vi. The M4 interface is between the public NMS and the public network. The final
interface, M5, is between the NMSs of two service providers.
vii. The ATM Forum has not yet specified this interface.

M1/M2 Interfaces and the ILMI Implementation:

i. Interim Local Management Interface (ILMI), which is an implementation of the M I /M2

interfaces, enables the exchange of status, configuration, accounting and control
information between any two ATM devices - such as two ATM switches - across a user-
to-network interface (UNI).
ii. For ILMI to function, every ATM switch or network terminator and every ATM network
that deploys a public or private network UNI must be equipped with a UNI Management
Entity (UME) which supports an ILMI MIB.
iii. Two adjacent (or peer) UMEs can communicate using the common attributes provided by
the ILMI.
iv. By sending SNMP commands, a UME may obtain or modify (if the object is indeed
modifiable) information contained in its ILMI MIB.
v. The ILMI has been deployed by some vendors to perform management tasks across the
UNI for some devices.
vi. However, since the ILMI provides a solution that is applicable only at the UNI, it cannot
support the management tasks that are involved in a network comprising a range of ATM
devices.
2. Explain ATM reference model with ILMI.
3. Explain the function of M3 and M4 interface in ATM.
M3 Interface:
 The Customer Network Management (CNM) interface defines the interaction
taking place between the customer and carrier management systems in order to
give the customer a view into the carrier’s network.
 Ultimately, carriers plan to extend their CNM offerings so that network managers
will have real-time control over the services they use.
 Currently, the most characteristic capabilities of CNM for ATM networks are the
performance of tests, the reception of event notifications, the definition of traps,
the administration and generation of trouble reports, the support of security
features, and the retrieval of configuration, usage, and performance information
from the M3 MIB that defines objects for the customer portion of a public
network.
 The CNM applications may regarded as an example of the classical
Manager/Agent model.
 A CNM application is acting as a manager that communicates with a CNM agent
residing in an ATM network.
 The CNM agent is capable of supplying the required management information
and carrying out management tasks related to the managed resources.
 It communicates with the carrier’s Network Management System (NMS) which
comprises the whole set of management functions supported by the carrier.
 Therefore, the CNM agent usually supports only the portion of these management
functions that pertain to the service provided to the customer.
 The interfacing between a CNM agent and a NMS should be based in open
standards, in order to ensure that the CNM agent is flexible.

M4 Interface: Public Network Management

 The management of public ATM network is primarily the responsibility of

network service providers, carriers and Postal Telephone and Telegraph (PTT)
companies.
 They have the challenge of not only managing the public network, but also
keeping up with new technology.
