UNIVERSITY OF

DERBY
BSc (Honors) Information
Technology Top-Up

ASSESSMENT SUBMISSION
FORM

Student Full Name: Pa Ali Nyang

Student ID: 100282417
Module Name: Network Management
Assessment Number: 1

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION
.
3

CURRENT HOME FURNITURE NETWORK OVERVIEW

4
PROPOSED NETWORK MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
.. 7
RETURN ON INVESTMENT FOR HOME FURNITURE ON IMPLEMENTING THE
CENTRALISED NMS .15
REFERENCES & BIBLIOGRAPHY ...
.16

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 INTRODUCTION

Home Furniture is a large furniture company that produces large amounts of tables and chairs for
different organizations. The company has three departments namely: Engineering (Design and
Production), Sales (Showroom) and Head Office. These departments are located in different
places in London with each location having its own LAN. The Engineering and Sales LANs are
connected to the Head Office LAN via E1 leased lines forming the company`s cooperate network.
The cooperate network allows employees to communicate using email, collaborate and work on
products development, and work from home. The company also has an internet presence in the
form of a website and an online ordering system which provides automated order processing for
the customers. Home Furniture relies heavily on computers in all of its business processes, but
there is no network management system implemented in their network as at now.

A business that relies heavily on its computer systems like Home Furniture cannot afford to have
its network down for a long time as that will greatly impact its operations. Presently, network
problems are very difficult to troubleshoot as the whole process is manually done. Since network
management systems can increase network efficiency by the automatic monitoring and
management of networks and network devices, they become important assets to a company like
Home Furniture.

The purpose of this assessment is to produce a Network Management System (NMS) justification
document to be presented to the board of Home Furniture. This paper will first attempt to give an
outline of the current network structure of Home Furniture by showing how the current LANS are
inter-connected. Next the paper will look at the importance of a network management system to
Home Furniture, i.e. the benefits of a NMS to Home Furniture. The paper will also give a brief
overview of the ISO-FCAPS network management model which will be used in this proposed
network management system. The proposed network management system is then discussed in
detail together with the different implementation methods with the associated costs, and finally
recommends one of the implementation strategies to be use in this proposed NMS for Home
Furniture.

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 CURRENT HOME FURNITURE NETWORK OVERVIEW

The network of Home Furniture has three physical locations each with its own LAN. The LANs
of the two branches (Engineering and Sales) are connected to the Head Office LAN through E1
leased lines as shown in figure 1 below:

Head Office
10
Internet

E1 Leased Line E1 Leased Line

Engineering
(Design &Production)
LAN
Figure 1 Sales (Show Room) LAN
20
10
As shown in the above figure:

-Company servers that run critical business applications are located in the head office which are
accessible to users in all the three LANs. These servers includes a web server, mail server,
online ordering system, ftp server, DNS and other applications used in the design and
production of furniture.
-Access to the internet is through the head office LAN.
-Connections from outside the cooperate network comes through the internet connection in the
head office LAN. This also serves as the entry point for employees working from home.
Figures 2, 3 and 4 show network connections in each LAN.

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Figure 2

Figure 3

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 Figure 4
Importance of Network Management System to Home Furniture

The smooth operations of the business processes of Home Furniture as discussed earlier depends
largely on the availability and reliability of its cooperate network and the associated IT systems.
The implementation of a NMS will serve to enhance the availability, reliability and effectiveness
of the company`s network in a number of ways. Here are some of the benefits of introducing a
NMS for Home Furniture.

-Easily identify, troubleshoot and fix network problems in a timely manner.

-Proactive potential faults management. Network problems can be anticipated and fixed before
they have an impact on network operations.
-Provides security mechanisms to protect network against threats.
-Provides accurate statistics of how network resources are being utilized by users.
-Modern networks are composed of devices from multiple vendors. A network management
system can be used to manage these different devices easily.
-Fairly and efficiently allocate network resources to users based on needs.
-Network faults and downtimes can be greatly reduced.
-Network and equipment costs can be controlled and predicted accurately.
-Average Mean Time To Repair (MTTR) network faults can be drastically reduced, as accurate
knowledge of faults and solutions are mostly available.
-Faults that have been successfully resolved will be logged in to a database together with the
solution. This makes similar faults easily taken care of.

PROPOSED NETWORK MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.

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The proposed Network Management System (NMS) solution for Home Furniture will be based
on the industry standard ISO-FCAPS model. The FCAPS model divides network management in
to five management components namely: Fault Management, Configuration Management,
Accounting Management, Performance Management and Security Management. The
components are further explained below.

Fault Management- The fault management component aims at detecting and correcting
network faults. It deals with the identification of network problems, provides solution and also
logs the network fault together with the associated solution in a database for future use.
Configuration Management- This component deals with controlling and monitoring of
network operations by keeping track of network device configuration changes. It also keeps
tracks of the types and models of devices connected to the network and their configurations in
an inventory for easy management and auditing. Various additions, modifications and
deletions of network devices are properly documented so as to have a clear picture of network
condition.
Accounting Management- This aims at optimal and fair distribution of network resources to
users. It makes sure that there is effective use of system resources in a cost effective manner. It
also ensures that system users are accordingly billed.
Performance Management- This component deals with network performance management. It
maintains network performance at acceptable thresholds by maximizing throughput, avoiding
system bottlenecks and identification of potential network problems.
Security Management- This component deals with the general protection of the network
against threats in the form of viruses, hackers, unauthorized users and sabotage. It also makes
sure that network resources access are in accordance with company security guidelines.

Architecture Of The Proposed Network Management System (NMS)

The proposed NMS should be able to monitor, test, poll and control hardware and software
components of the network. Since the Home Furniture stretches three different physical
locations, it is imperative to be able to control all connected devices from a central location
known as the Network Operation System (NOC).Managing Entity/Manager
Hence, the architecture of this NMS will
Agent
primarily be composed of three components namely: The Managing Entity (Manager), Managed
Devices and a Network ManagementMIBProtocol (NMP) as shown in the following figure 5 below.

Managed Device

Home Furniture Network

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 Figure 5

The Managing Entity (Manager) - The NMS manager is an application that is installed
in a Centralised Network Management Station in the NOC. This will be the central
management point of the NMS which deals with the collection, processing, analysis,
displaying of network management information. Actions to control network behavior like
polling or shutting down a device are initiated here. This also serves as the interaction
point (interface) for NMS administrators when there is the need to manage network
devices.
Managed Devices- A managed device (MD) is any device connected to the network. This
includes PCs, servers, switches, routers, modems, etc. The NMS manages network
resources by representing them as Managed Objects (MOs). MOs are the smaller
networking units (resources) within a managed device which needs to be monitored and
configured such as NICs, CPU, disk space, etc. The collection of the data from these
MOs forms the Management Information Base (MIB). Using the MIB, MDs can be
remotely configured, monitored and controlled. This MIB is made available to the
manager through the NMP. There is also something called a Network Management Agent
(NMA) which is a process running in the managed device. The NMA communicates with
the manager and performs local tasks on the managed device requested by the manager. It
also sends MIB to the manager when requested or polled.
Network Management Protocol (NMP) - This is the protocol used for communication
between the manager and the managed devices. It allows the manager to poll the status of
managed devices using the MAs. The NMP used in this NMS is the famous Simple
Network Management Protocol (SNMP) since it is capable of providing the needed
functionalities in modern IP-based NMS`s including this proposed system. It can manage
a wide range of devices including PC`s/servers, routers, switches, modems and other

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 network devices. SNMP can enable this NMS to manage network performance, diagnose
and fix faults, and plan for network growth.
Figures 6&7 show the communication between the manager and managed devices using
SNMP.

SNMP Network Management Architecture

Figure 6

Figure 7

The Managing Entity (manager) which resides in the NMS requests tasks from the MA in MDs
in the form of GET and SET operations using MIB variables. Using Traps, the MA will notify
the manager about network operation related events. This is further shown in figure8 below.

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Home Furniture Application
Network Manages Objects

SNMP messages

Figure 8

Network Management System Software Product For The Proposed System

The NMS software product chosen in this proposal should be able to support all the different
requirements outlined in the FCAPS model. It should also be robust in design and friendly in
usage. I have opted for the ManageEngine OpManager NMS software product by Zoho
Corporation to be used in this NMS proposal as it offers all the FCAPS features shown below.

Main Features
Fault Management
Configuration Management
Accounting Management
Performance Management
Security Management

The next part of this paper will now discuss the different implementation strategies of the
Network Management System using the ManageEngine OpManager NMS software product,
after which a final recommendation will be made for implementing this NMS. The

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ManageEngine OpManager software product can be implemented in three different strategies
namely: Centralised, Hierarchical and Distributed. Below I discuss each of them:

Centralised Architecture: This strategy requires a single managing entity that will manage the
entire network devices connected to the Home Furniture network in the three different LANs. In
this architecture, the manager will be installed in a NOC stationed in the Head Office LAN as
that is where the company server room is. The layout of this structure is shown in figure 9
below:

10

20
10

Figure 9
The advantage of the above Centralised strategy is ease of management and security since all the
critical components of the network management system are located in a single place. The
drawback is however the issue of bottleneck and single point of failure as a single server is
providing support to the whole network.

Hierarchical Architecture: In the hierarchical model, there will be one central Network
Management Server that will control three different client Network Management systems. A
client Network Management system will be installed in each of the three offices which will be
responsible for managing that particular LAN. The local client NMS will be responsible for
querying the attached devices in that LAN while the Central NMS Server will be querying the
clients NM Systems.

In this strategy the central NM Server will be installed in the Head office NOC together with the
local client NM System for the Head Office LAN. A client NM System will also be installed in

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the Engineering and Sales branches responsible for managing their local branches respectively,
as shown in figure 10 below:

10

20
10

Figure 10

The hierarchical model shown above will solve the issue of bottleneck since the role of the
central NM server will only be to manage the three local NM clients. The client NM Systems on
the other hand will have only local network devices in the LAN to manage.

The drawback for this model has to do with budget as it requires three Client NM systems and
one central NM Server, which is more expensive than the Centralised model. It is also more
complex to install and configure.

Distributed Architecture: The distributed network management model tends to combine the
features of both Centralized and Hierarchical. In this strategy, a peer NM server is installed for
each LAN which will manage that specific LAN just like the hierarchical model discussed
above. The peer NM servers however maintain their own local MIB for that LAN. The local

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MIBs are replicated to other peer NM servers in the corporate network. In the case of the Home
Furniture network, a peer NM server will be installed in each of the three sites. Each of these
peer NM servers will manage the network devices connected to its LAN using a local MIB. The
MIBs then will be replicated between the three peer NM servers in the entire network as shown
below:

10

20 10

Figureelimination
The advantages of the distributed model include 11 of single point of failure and
bottlenecks since the NMS is highly distributed. The drawbacks include high budget and
complex configurations.

Cost Comparison of the different implementation Strategies.

For each of the three different implementation strategies, the following are needed:

- ManageEngine OpManager NMS software product = 1,500

- Annual license per client = 50
- Server hardware running the application ( HP Proliant N40L Micro Server with Win
Server 2008 Enterprise Edition installed)= 400

Centralised

- 1 Server Hardware needed which is installed in the Head Office LAN= 400

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 - Software Product = 1,500
- License per client access= Head Office(10 PC`s), Engineering (20 PC`s), Sales (10 PC`s)
= 40 licenses
40x50 per license= 2000
- Installation and Configurations= 1000
- Total Cost for the NMS = 400+ 1,500+ 2000+ 1000= 4,900

Hierarchical

- 4 Server Hardware (one for each of the three locations and the central NM server)= 4x
400= 1,600
- Software purchase = 1,500
- License for clients (50 per client)= 2000
- Installation and configurations= 2,500
- Total cost = 1,600+ 1,500+2000+ 2,500= 7,600

Distributed

- 3 Server Hardware purchase for each of the locations= 3x400= 1,200

- Software purchase = 1,500
- License for clients (50 per client)= 2000
- Installation and Configurations= 2,000
- Total Cost = 6,700

My recommended solution will use the Centralised network management model because of the
following reasons:

- Cheaper than the other two models.

- Most suitable for small companies like Home Furniture.
- Less complex to install and manage.

The chosen strategy which is the Centralised network management model can be managed in two
ways:

1. To enter in to a contractual agreement with the supplier of the ManageEngine OpManager

NMS software product (OceanTech.) to provide the NMS administration. This option will
require the supplier to be surely responsible for the management and maintenance of the entire
NMS. They will send a network administrator to make weekly onsite visits, and to respond
within 30 minutes of reported network problems. The cost for this contract will be 3,000 per
month.
2. Hire a network administrator to manage the NMS. This option will be more expensive than
the first as the pay rate for the network administrator will be 25 per hour.
- This gives a total of 1000 per week at a rate of 40 hours per week which gives 4000
per month.

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Return On Investment for Home Furniture on Implementing the Centralised NMS

With the implementation of a Centralised NMS, Home Furniture stands to benefit in the
following ways:

1. Savings in Network Administration Contract: Currently Home Furniture pays a monthly

contractual fee of 2000 to NetWIZ Inc. for the administration/support of its network.
- This contract will no longer be needed as the NMS together with the attached contract
or the network administrator to be hired will provide the same purpose.
2. NMS can alert network administrators of potential problems: Information like network
utilization rate, packets transmitted/received per second, error percentages, availability
percentage and others can show potential problems. Using thresholds, alerts can be set to
notify administrators of potential network problems. Corrective actions can be implemented
before a problem occurs which saves the company network from going down.
- Currently the company network experiences 80% uptime (which yields 2, 000000 in
revenue) per month. With the NMS, this will be increased to 99% uptime (2, 475000
in revenue) per month. The 19% increment generates about 475,000 for the company
per month.
3. Employees working from home contribute about 200 per hour each. Five employees work
from home every month.
- The NMS will eliminate 10 hours of downtime per month. Hence, (200x5)
x10=10,000 per month can be gained.

ROI Breakdown Using The Centralised Network Management Model

ROI Per Month Without Hiring A Network Technician

Expenditures Per Month Gains/Savings Per Month
NMS Cost = 4,900 NetWIZ Inc. contract = 2,000
Ocean Tech. Contract = 3,000 19% Network uptime increment= 475,000
Total = 7,900 Increase working hrs for Work-from-Home Employees
= 10,000
Total = 487,000
ROI Total = 487,000 - 7,900 = 479,100

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 ROI Per Month When Hiring A Network Technician
Expenditures Per Month Gains/Savings Per Month
NMS Cost = 4,900 NetWIZ Inc. contract = 2,000
Network Technician Salary = 4,000 19% Network uptime increment= 475,000
Total = 8,900 Increase working hrs for Work-from-Home Employees
= 10,000
Total = 487,000
ROI Total = 487,000 - 8,900= 478,100

As seen above, Home Furniture has a lot to gain by investing in this NMS as it will get a ROI
of 479,100 without hiring a network technician (i.e. opting for Ocean Tech contract) or
478,100 when hiring a network technician within the first month of implementation.

References & Bibliography

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