Network Management H.W. 2
1) Is running a network only a matter of network management technology or are there other considerations?
You have to factor in the humans who use them, it must have rules and some kind of a user platform to run on.
2) What does Pat’s employer use to track the resolution of a problem?
The problems are tracked through a trouble ticketing system. It contains all the information from when the problem was reported and each step that has been taken to resolve it to completion.
3) How does the integration of the work order system with the trouble ticket system make Pat’s job easier?
It allows her to effectively identify and input the problem into the system, note other tickets in the system and see if they have the same root cause, and rout the problem to the proper personnel to have it fixed. She is the notified of the repair of the problem, so she can again check that part or parts of the network to see if there’re operating properly.
4) Which network provider do you think will be more vulnerable to human failures by operations personnel, Pat’s or Chris’s?
Pat’s system is better designed to diagnose, forward, and keep track of a problem until it is fixed. So it is less vulnerable to human failure. Chris must look harder to find and must use more of his own judgment to solve a problem, so he has to try not to make any mistakes.
5) Which of the following can be used as a management tools? A. Alarm management system, B. spreadsheets, C. pencil and a piece of paper, D. All of them.
The answer is D, you need all of them; you must have an alarm system, One manager Chris used a spreadsheet to predict events and he use a pencil to record pertinent information.
6) In how many different places does Chris need to maintain the same phone number, and why could this be an issue?
He needs to keep the same number in four places; in the voicemail system, the IP PBX, the company directory, and the phone number inventory. If the system is expanded to a certain point, he can and probably will incur problems.
7) When Chris is worried about compromised security of his company’s network, does the threat come from outside attackers or from within the network?
With the network Chris is administering his biggest threat to the system is form the inside; because he has managed service provider and a Virtual Private Network he has good protection from the outside, and must be aware of inside users who can gain access to the central database and the management data base.
8) Connectively between different company sites is provided by an outside MSP. Why is Chris nevertheless concerned with monitoring traffic statistics across these outside connections?
He wants to make sure the MSP is providing the bandwidth for his communication traffic that it promised, and that they are not being cheated out of money.
9) When Sandy wants to implement a security policy for the Internet Data Center, at what different levels does she take security into account?
She takes security into account at the user/application level for data, and at the networking level with Virtual LAN’s as firewalls that are used to connect the system.
10) For what reason is Sandy interested in “old” performance data and traffic statistics, even though she is not monitoring actual network operations?
She uses this data for future expansion of the network; this data is an important tool for seeing trends that will lead to proper scaling of the data center network.
