A Network Management System (NMS) is a combination of hardware and software used to monitor and administer a network.

In general, network management is a service that employs a variety of tools, applications, and devices to assist human network managers in monitoring and maintaining networks.

network-management-needs

Network Visualization:
Auto-discovery and mapping of all critical network elements such as mail servers, WAN links, business applications, and entire LAN infrastructure including switches, printers, wireless routers, load balancers, and non-standard devices if any.

24/7 Monitoring:
24/7 network surveillance for detecting network faults. Monitoring critical resources for availability, threshold violations, host resource (CPU, Disc space, Memory) utilizations, service availability, service response times etc.

Automated Response:
Ability to send notifications and take automated remedial actions by executing custom scripts.

Flexible Reporting:
Reports that help answer questions such as how many service outages occurred for all systems monitored that provide service to branch office? What’s the percentage of free space on all file servers across the entire network? etc.

Network Management Architecture:

Most network management architectures use the same basic structure and set of relationships. End stations (managed devices), such as computer systems and other network devices, run software that enables them to send alerts when they recognize problems (for example, when one or more user-determined thresholds are exceeded). Upon receiving these alerts, management entities are programmed to react by executing one, several, or a group of actions, including operator notification, event logging, system shutdown, and automatic attempts at system repair.