Chp. 12 Chapter Questions

Question 1

What skills does a network manager need?

Answer 1

Strong technology skills in a variety of technologies

LAN/WAN networking experience working with routers and switches

Experience with Internet access solutions, including firewalls and VPN

Network architecture design and implementation experience

Information security experience

Personnel management experience

Project management experience

Experience working in a team environment

Ability to work well in an unstructured environment

Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills

Effective written and oral communication skills

Question 2

What is “firefighting?”

Answer 2

• dealing with breakdowns and immediate problems.

Question 3

Why is combining voice and data a major organizational challenge?

Answer 3

• These pressures are magnified by:
  
  • the high cost of maintaining separate facilities,
  • the low efficiency and productivity of the organization’s employees because there are two separate network functions
  • the potential political problems within an organization when neither manager wants to relinquish his or her functional duties or job position

Question 4

Describe what configuration management encompasses.

Answer 4

• Configuration management means managing the network’s hardware and software configuration and documenting it (and ensuring it is updated as the configuration changes).

Question 5

People tend to think of software when documentation is mentioned. What is documentation in a network situation?

Answer 5

Documentation in a network situation is mandatory and includes:

• inventory of network hardware and equipment
• network configuration and maps
• maintenance records
• software listings by hardware and network tasks
• software documentation manuals
• user names and telephone numbers
• vendor names and telephone numbers
• contracts
• legal requirements
• operating manuals
• disaster plan and recovery techniques
• troubleshooting techniques

Question 6

What is desktop management and why is it important?

Answer 6

1. Desktop management (DM), sometimes called Electronic Software Delivery (ESD) or automatic software distribution, is one solution to the configuration problem.
2. DM enables network managers to install software on client computers over the network without needing individual access to each client computer. Saves a lot of money

Question 7

What is performance and fault management?

Answer 7

• Performance management means ensuring the network is operating as efficiently as possible.
• Fault management means preventing, detecting, and correcting faults in the network circuits, hardware, and software (e.g., a broken hub or improperly installed software).

Question 8

What does a help desk do?

Answer 8

• Failure control is handled by the network support group (often starting with a help desk) that is called when anything goes wrong in the network.

Question 9

What do trouble tickets report?

Answer 9

• Numerous software packages are available for recording fault information. The reports they produce are known as trouble tickets.

Question 10

Several important statistics related to network uptime and downtime are discussed in this chapter. What are they ?

Answer 10

1. mean time to diagnose (MTTD)
2. mean time to respond (MTTR)
3. mean time to fix (MTTF)
4. mean time to repair
5. mean time between failures (MTBF)

Question 11

Describe MTTD.

Answer 11

• mean time to diagnose (MTTD)
  
  • measures the efficiency of the in-house testing and problem management personnel
  • can be used to evaluate the ability of network personnel to isolate and diagnose failure of hardware, software, or circuits and can often be improved by training

Question 12

Describe MTTR.

Answer 12

• mean time to respond (MTTR)
  
  • indicates how quickly vendors and internal groups respond to emergencies
  • can lead to a change of vendors or internal management policies, or, at the minimum, can exert severe pressure on vendors who do not respond to problems promptly

Question 13

Describe MTTF

Answer 13

• mean time to fix (MTTF)
  
  • measures how long it takes the vendor or internal support group to correct the problem once they arrive on the premises
  • can be affected by the use of redundant interface equipment, alternate circuit paths, adequate recovery or fallback procedures to earlier versions of software, and the technical expertise of internal or vendor staff

Question 14

Describe Mean time to repair.

Answer 14

• mean time to repair
  
  • MTTRepair = MTTDiagnose + MTTRespond + MTTFix

Question 15

Describe MTBF

Answer 15

• mean time between failures (MTBF)
  
  • indicates the reliability of a network component
  • developed by equipment vendors to tell customers how frequently their equipment fails (this is the number of hours or days of continuous operation before the component fails)
  • can be influenced by the original selection of vendor-supplied equipment

Question 16

What is availability? How is it calculated?

Answer 16

1. Availability is the percentage of time the network is available to users.
2. It is calculated as the number of hours per month the network is available divided by the total number of hours per month (i.e., 24 hours per day x 30 days/month = 720 hours).

Question 17

What is an SLA?

Answer 17

• More organizations are beginning to establish service level agreements (SLA) with their common carriers and Internet service providers.
• An SLA specifies the exact type of performance and fault conditions that the organization will accept.

Question 18

How is network availability calculated?

Answer 18

• Network availability is the percentage of time the network is available to users.
• Availability includes all components of the network that are required for the network to be up and operating (modems, circuits, and so forth).

Question 19

What is problem escalation?

Answer 19

• Problem escalation is the increase in severity and scope of a problem caused when the initial problem or error situation is not resolved quickly and efficiently

Question 20

What are the primary functions of end user support?

Answer 20

• here are three main functions within end user support:
  
  • resolving network faults,
  • resolving software problems,
  • training.

Question 21

What is total cost of ownership?

Answer 21

• The total cost of ownership (TCO) is a measure of how much it costs per year to keep one computer operating.
• includes:
  
  • cost of support staff to attach it to the network, install software, administer the network
  • provide training and technical support,
  • upgrade hardware and software

Question 22

Why is the total cost of ownership so high?

Answer 22

• The most expensive item is personnel (network managers and technicians), which typically accounts for 50 to 70 percent of total costs
• The largest time cost (where staff spend most of their time) is systems management, which includes configuration, fault, and performance management tasks that focus on the network as a whole. The second largest item is end user support.

Question 23

How can network costs be reduced?

Answer 23

Network costs can be reduced by taking these steps:

• Develop standard hardware and software configurations for client computers and servers
• Automate as much of the network management function as possible by deploying a solid set of network management tools
• Reduce the costs of installing new hardware and software by working with vendors
• Centralize help desks
• Move to thin client architectures

Question 24

What do network management software systems do and why are they important?

Answer 24

1. Network management software is designed to provide automated support for some or all of the network management functions.
2. Network management software systems are important because they signify improved or deteriorating conditions.

Question 25

What is SNMP and RMON?

Answer 25

• The most commonly used network management protocol is Simple Network Management
• RMON allows for remote monitoring of equipment

Question 26

Describe device management software

Answer 26

• Device management software provides information about the specific devices on a network.
• It enables the network manager to monitor important devices such as servers, routers, and switches, and switches and to report configuration information, traffic volumes, and error conditions for each device.

Question 27

Describe system managent software

Answer 27

• System management software provides the same configuration, traffic, and error information as device management systems but can analyze the device information to diagnose patterns, not just display individual device problems.

Question 28

Describe applicaiton management

Answer 28

• Application management software also builds on the device management software, but instead of monitoring systems, it monitors applications.

Question 29

How does a load balancer work?

Answer 29

• A load balancer acts as a traffic manager at the front of the server farm.

Question 30

What is server virtualization?

Answer 30

• Server virtualization is the process of utilizing one physical server and using special software, creating multiple virtual computers that each run their own separate operating system.

Question 31

What is policy-based management?

Answer 31

• Policy-based management allows the network manager to use special software to set priority policies for network traffic that take effect when the network becomes busy.

Question 32

What is capacity management?

Answer 32

• Capacity management is used to monitor traffic and can slow down traffic from users who consume a lot of network capacity
• simpler than policy based management

Question 33

How does content caching differ from content delivery?

Answer 33

• Content caching is used to store other people’s Web data closer to your users.
• Content delivery stores web files for its clients closer to their potential users.

Question 34

How does network cost of ownership (aka real TCO) differ from total cost of ownership? Which is the most useful measure of network costs from the point of view of the network manager?

Answer 34

1. The total cost of ownership (TCO) for typical networked PCs is about $7,000 per year per computer, far more than the initial purchase price. Next
2. The network management cost (omitting “wasted” time) is between $1500 and $3500 per year per computer. The largest single cost item is staff salaries.

Question 35

Many organizations do not have a formal trouble reporting system. Why do you think this is the case?

Answer 35

• Typically size, application diversity and volume of traffic determine whether or not a formal trouble reporting system is required
• All large organizations with heterogeneous type networks require a formal trouble reporting system because the annual cost of maintenance demands it.