Netw420 Event Categories

Event Categories and Reporting

NETW420 – Advanced Network Management

January 2013 Session

2/3/2013

Network management systems provide an observation window to network managers and administrators of the functionality of a network. Network management systems are typically server-based and implement various combinations of computer hardware and software. As such, the primary goal of a network management system is to provide a set of tools for network managers to monitor the health of their networks by informing them of active or potential problems, and if necessary, implement change to resolve active issues or avoid potential ones.

An event is defined as a message sent from an agent to a manager in response to something that has occurred in the agent. Event-based message are sent from agents to managers whenever an event occurs without needing to first be solicited or polled, as in the case of polling-based messages where the manager requests agent status or alarm detail. An event-based management system typically uses SNMP as the protocol to transfer the event from agent to manager. An event notification is sent when the threshold of an event exceeds the level specified by pre-determined values, such as a high-temperature alarm threshold of 80 degrees. If the event does not have specific numerical parameters, a notification is sent when the event occurs, as would be the case if a T1 link went down on a router; it’s either “up” or “down”.

Events may be classified into many different categories, with each category defined to serve a different purpose. Different categories of events serve different purposes and carry different information. Important categories are alarms (for monitoring and fault management), configuration-change events (to keep management applications’ databases synchronized with the network), and threshold-crossing alerts (for proactive and preventive management). (Clemm 247)

• Fault Management events - Monitors for catastrophic...