Element Management
With the advent of distributed networks and systems, network/systems management had become a very difficult task for administration staff. It was exceedingly difficult and time consuming to manage each device that made up a system individually, even if they were from the same vendor. The overhead required to configure and maintain systems, as well as the risks of mis-configuration were quite high. It was also hard to store all network device setups and connections in a simple to manage way.
What is an Element Management System (EMS)?
An Element Management System consists of the systems and applications that are concerned with managing one or more physical devices that make up a system. It allows these often distributed nodes or network elements to be managed in a unified way using one management system.
In any distributed system, there are often many devices that are performing the same, albeit complex, functions. With structuring and grouping the elements, they become easier to manage, since rather than having to address each element individually, it is far easier to manage the system as one entity, or groups of entities. This also allows system designers to easily gain access/talk the language of disparate elements from multiple vendors using widely understood protocols like SNMP.
Key Functionality
An Element Management System's key functionality is divided into five key areas:
- Fault
- Configuration
- Accounting
- Performance
- Security
(known as FCAPS in the TMN framework model that is now used in many different industries, including wireless and land line telecommunications, data centers, video compression and distribution, wireless broadband networks)
Fully-managed IPnexus® EMS
PT addresses the need for a fully-managed EMS with the IPnexus® EMS. This feature-rich EMS utilizes SNMP v1/v2c/v3, HTTP, RMCP, SSH-2, TELNET to communicate and configure the managed elements while presenting SNMPv1/v2c/v3 and HTTPS interfaces to the network managers, enabling secure communication between the operations center and the IPnexus EMS.
The IPnexus® EMS consolidates real-time element management into an easy-to-use graphical user interface (GUI) to provide a single view for management of network elements which are often geographically dispersed. Centralized element management provides numerous benefits ranging from reduced operational expenses to faster troubleshooting as all elements may be viewed and monitored network wide or individually.
