Extreme Networks EPICenter Guide Manual page 14

EPICenter Overview
• Intelligent Management. Extreme SmartTraps
configuration changes and forward them to the EPICenter server, thereby minimizing network
management traffic. EPICenter separates its SNMP status polling, used to asses a device's
connectivity, from its less frequent and more data-intensive detailed polling.
• Hierarchical Displays. Most information, including that found in EPICenter topology maps, VLAN
management, configuration management, and real-time statistics, is dynamically presented in an
easy-to-navigate hierarchical tree.
• Multi-platform capability. The EPICenter server supports Sun SPARC/Solaris and Intel, Windows
2000, and Windows XP. Client applications on either of these platforms can connect to servers on
either platform.
• Support for multiple users with security. Users must log in to the application, and can be granted
different levels of access to the application features based on their assigned role. Three basic predefined
roles are provided, and additional user roles can be created. Telnet and SSH access to Extreme
Networks switches can also be controlled based on the user identity.
• Installed or web-based clients. The EPICenter software gives you a choice of installing full-function
client software, or connecting to the EPICenter server through a web-browser-based client, available on
Windows client machines. The browser-based client provides slightly limited functionality due to the
constraints of the browser environment.
• Monitor wireless Access Points and wireless clients. Through EPICenter's dynamic reports you can
monitor the status of the Altitude 300 APs connected to your network and monitor wireless client
activity connected through those APs. You can also detect rogue APs connected to the network, and
add them to a "safe" list, or disable their access if necessary.
• Manage large numbers of devices. The EPICenter Gold Upgrade enables the EPICenter server to
manage up to 2000 devices with a single installation of the EPICenter software. For even larger
networks you can split the management task among several EPICenter servers in a distributed server
mode that lets you monitor the status of those servers from a single client.
• Policy-based Management. The EPICenter Policy Manager Upgrade is an optional,
separately-licensed component of the EPICentersoftware that lets you work with high-level policy
components (users, desktop systems, groups of users, devices, or applications) in defining network
policies used to protect and guarantee delivery of mission-critical traffic. The policy system translates
these into the specific information needed for QoS configuration of network devices. It also detects
overlaps and conflicts in policies, with precedence rules for resolving conflicting QoS rules.
Extreme Networks switches and many other MIB-2 compatible devices can be monitored and controlled
from a central interface, without exiting EPICenter to run a separate program or telnet session. Features
such as SmartTraps (for Extreme Networks devices) and the EPICenter alarm system further maximize
network monitoring capability while maintaining network usage efficiency.
All devices in the EPICenter inventory database—both Extreme Networks devices and third-party
devices—can also appear on a topology map. The EPICenter alarm system can handle SNMP traps from
any device in the inventory database, including RMON traps from devices with RMON enabled. The
Real-Time Statistics module can display statistics for any device with RMON enabled, and the IP/MAC
Finder applet supports all devices running MIB-2 and the Bridge MIB, with the exception of user
mapping, which is specific to Extreme devices.
You can organize your network resources into multiple, overlapping groups (including groups made up
of selected ports from multiple switches) that you can manage as a single entity. Device groupings can
be based on a variety of factors, such as physical location, logical grouping, devices that support SSH2,
and so on. Using device groups, you can search for individual IP addresses and identify their
connections into the network. You can monitor the status of your network devices visually through the
Inventory Manager or via a Topology map, or by setting alarms that will notify you about conditions or
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(patent pending) automatically gather switch
EPICenter Concepts and Solutions Guide