What is Network Management?

• Network management is essentially the process of setting up,

administering, and troubleshooting a network, whether for home or
business purposes. The purpose of network management is to ensure
that the IT side of a business is set up in a resilient, sensible way,
which can minimize disruptions, ensure high performance, and help
you avoid security issues.
What is Network Management?
there are five main areas that should be part of any effective network management system. There can be some overlap between these
categories, but the general breakdown is as follows:

1. Network Administration – Administration of a network includes keeping an inventory of network resources and equipment, including cables,
hubs, routers, servers, and computers. In addition, it can mean setting up networks, monitoring their performance, and updating and
troubleshooting software. It also involves setting up network management tools, operating systems, and software used across the entire
network.
2. Network Operation – Operations is all about keeping the network running smoothly and without problems. It includes monitoring the
network for performance problems and faults, as well as fixing problems before they affect end users, or at least in the timeliest manner
possible.
3. Network Maintenance – Maintenance includes the repair and upgrade of network equipment (including routers, transmission cables,
servers, workstations, and switches). It also involves updating and patching software on an ongoing basis, along with implementing
preventative policies, updating access control measures, and improving faulty configurations.
4. Network Provisioning – The provisioning task is all about allocating and configuring network resources to best suit a particular service or
need. For example, a project may have a lot of people coming in from offsite, which could increase the need for broadband. If a team needs
extra storage space or file transfer capabilities, the responsibility falls on IT. The network administrator works to provide resources to meet
the growing and changing needs of the business.
5. Network Security – Keeping a network secure is important for the network to function in a healthy way to fulfill the needs of the business.
This involves installing and maintaining network protection software, monitoring IP and network behavior, tracking endpoint devices, and
quickly resolving security issues or breaches.
What Tools Help With Network
Management?
• Using tools to help with network management ensures you don’t miss issues that could take
down your systems or impact quality of service. Network management programs also help to
ensure once an issue is flagged, you can troubleshoot it promptly with a solid resolution.
• Your best bet is to use a designated network performance monitor, for example, 
Network Performance Monitor (NPM) from SolarWinds. As a network scales, it becomes harder
and harder to visualize the network in your mind. Many network monitoring tools construct
visual maps for you, so you can see the entire network and how it’s laid out. These tools may use
the SNMP protocol (or similar) to track packet paths and provide a granular look into network
traffic. This kind of deep packet inspection is a proven and effective way to understand network
activity more closely. Or you can manage Wi-Fi connectivity with a device heat map.
• With a packet-level tool, it’s easier to troubleshoot problems or pinpoint slowdowns, and with a
visual map of packet paths, you can navigate more quickly through the network to where the
issue is. Many of these network performance monitoring tools will also include troubleshooting
features so you can find and fix problems in a centralized way.
What Tools Help With Network
Management?
• Configuration management tools also help you with setting up and configuring your
network, even with complicated or changing network topologies. These kinds of tools allow
you to deploy software across the entire network and ensure the network is configured in
the right way for compliance and regulatory requirements, with appropriate security
measures in place.

• Of course, network management is a task that’s particularly relevant to MSPs. At the same
time, in this environment, network management is a different beast than maintaining a
single personal or business network.

• As such, it can be worth your time to look for tools that simplify network management
specifically for MSPs. For instance, N-able N-central helps you effortlessly monitor and
manage your clients’ networks remotely.
Best Practices for Network Management
• Know Your Network – Understanding how your network normally behaves can help you to quickly spot any abnormalities
or issues, which will help you to resolve them faster. Having clear baselines in your network management software can
also help you to set appropriate alerts for when something goes beyond the normal range of expected behavior.
• Appropriate Escalation Protocols – The next step when a problem arises is to make sure the right person is notified of and
aware of the issue. Having one person responsible for security, another for firewalls and another for systems or
virtualization can help to speed up the resolution in each of these areas.
• Layered Breakdowns – Make sure whatever network monitoring or management software you’re using can provide
information and troubleshooting at each layer of the network (e.g., physical cables, IP address issues, transport protocol
issues, etc.). This allows issues to be resolved quickly.
• Failover Protection – When you use network management and monitoring software, it’s normally installed on the network
you are managing. This means when a problem with the network arises, the network management system can go down,
too. The network should be structured in such a way the server or point at which the monitoring system is installed is
accessible even in the event of a major network failure in another part of the network.
• Appropriate Growth Planning – When you set up a network for your organization, always plan for it to grow. If you haven’t
planned for the network capacity to increase, you’ll run into problems later when you try to expand the network. Use
monitoring systems to ensure your network is running well within capacity and look at components that may need to be
extended in the near-term future.