Compaq 167050-001 - Netelligent 5708 Switch Overview page 5

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N M
ETWORK ANAGEMENT
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H E E N T R A L I Z E D
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Most network management applications are designed around the concept of "centralized
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management." Rather than managing repeaters and switches via serial management ports, a
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technique which is acceptable for only for small networks in concentrated areas, centralized
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management allows you to manage all of your devices from a single location on the network.
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. . For large networks, and networks that cover wider geographical areas (wide area networks, or
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WANs), the cost of time and travel required to manage the network becomes increasingly
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prohibitive, making centralized management vastly preferable to localized serial-port
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management. In a centrally managed network, you can manage devices that are hundreds, or
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even thousands of miles away without leaving your office, letting you focus on the problem.
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Figure 3 - A WAN managed at a central point (large PC
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represents the management station)
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T D
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In large, enterprise networks, even the centralized approach has its shortcomings. Trying to
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manage a network consisting of thousands of nodes from a single location requires massive
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computing power and generates a substantial amount of network traffic.
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In these environments, a distributed management system prevails. Distributed management
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places the responsibility of gathering statistics at the segment level. Network administrators at
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various sites become responsible for managing and gathering statistics from smaller network
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segments or domains, buildings, or large departments.
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5 Figure 4 - A WAN managed on a segment basis (large PC
represents the management station)
O
VERVIEW (cont'd)
M A
A N A G E M E N T
M A
A N A G E M E N T P P R O A C H
P P R O A C H