| ==Phrack Inc.== | |
| Volume Two, Issue 21, File 6 of 11 | |
| <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> | |
| <> <> | |
| <> Organizations Supporting The Telecommunications Network Operations <> | |
| <> <> | |
| <> NETWORK MANAGEMENT CENTER <> | |
| <> _____________________________________________________ <> | |
| <> | | <> | |
| <> | A description of the Network Management Center/NMC | <> | |
| <> | and its role in providing the best possible service | <> | |
| <> | to the customers of the telecommunications network. | <> | |
| <> |_____________________________________________________| <> | |
| <> <> | |
| <> Brought to you by <> | |
| <> Knight Lightning & Taran King <> | |
| <> <> | |
| <> August 9, 1988 <> | |
| <> <> | |
| <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> | |
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| Introduction To Network Management - Southwestern Bell Telephone Company | |
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | |
| Modern Telecommunications Networks, relying on direct customer input and common | |
| and stored program controlled switching, are generally very reliable and have | |
| provided the means to supply low cost telecommunication service to all who | |
| desire it. Because these networks are designed on the probability that all | |
| customers do not require service simultaneously, they are engineered and | |
| equipped to provide acceptable levels of service during normal traffic load | |
| periods. When customer demands or equipment malfunctions cause a deviation | |
| from the engineered requirements or heavier than normal calling occurs, modern | |
| networks can become congested and network throughput can be affected. | |
| Network Management provides a means to improve the | |
| performance of the network during these contingencies. | |
| - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - | |
| Purpose And Objectives | |
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | |
| The Network Management Centers purpose is to provide the constant surveillance | |
| and control activities necessary to maintain the network at its optimum level | |
| of performance. This includes the Bell Operating Company (BOC) Intra-Lata | |
| Networks and Inter-Exchange Facilities and Circuits. | |
| NMC's objective is to meet customer and market needs and expectations, and at | |
| the same time, maximize revenues derived from the provision of network service. | |
| While the NMC cannot guarantee a certain level of service to the customer, it | |
| can ensure the most effective use of existing network capacity in all | |
| situations. This will result in: | |
| - More completed calls | |
| - Higher return on network capital investment | |
| - Better customer service | |
| - Protection of essential services such as 911, during abnormal network | |
| situations | |
| - Ensuring equal access | |
| - Assisting in national security and emergency preparedness | |
| The NMC has the capability to alter or change the switching network on a near | |
| real-time basis. This is accomplished thru Network Control Actions in the | |
| switching machines. Control messages from the NMC are acted upon by the | |
| switching machines to either expand capacity by utilizing idle equipment and | |
| trunks or to restrict the network by denying access to traffic that has a poor | |
| chance of completion, thereby freeing equipment and trunks for traffic that has | |
| a good chance of completion. | |
| - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - | |
| Principles And Responsibilities Of Operations | |
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | |
| In accomplishing the purpose and objective of the NMC, decision on network | |
| control actions are guided by standard principle applicable to switching | |
| technology or network architecture. All network management control actions are | |
| generally based upon at least one of the standard principles. | |
| Inhibit Switching Congestion | |
| ---------------------------- | |
| Large numbers of ineffective attempts in a switching machine due to traffic | |
| overload or equipment malfunctions can exceed the engineered capacity of the | |
| system. If not controlled, this congestion can spread to other connected | |
| switching systems. Network management controls are available that remove | |
| ineffective attempts to a congested machine, inhibiting switching congestion | |
| and preventing its spread to adjacent switching systems. | |
| Use All Available Trunks | |
| ------------------------ | |
| The switching network is sized and equipped to accommodate the average business | |
| day calling requirements. Focused overloads (storms, holidays, floods, and | |
| civil disturbances) can often result in greatly increased calling patterns for | |
| which the network is not designed. This aberration can also be caused by | |
| facility failures and switching system outages. In these cases some trunk | |
| groups are greatly overloaded while others may be virtually idle. Network | |
| management reroutes can be activated in many of these cases to use temporary | |
| idle capacity in the network, thereby completing calls that would otherwise be | |
| blocked. | |
| Keep All Trunks Filled With Messages | |
| ------------------------------------ | |
| A message is a completed call. Since the network is normally trunk limited, it | |
| is important to optimize the ratio of messages (revenue) to non-messages (non | |
| revenue producing) on any trunk group. When unusual or abnormal conditions | |
| occur in the network that cause increased short holding time calls (non-message | |
| such as busy tone, reorder tone, recorded announcement, and high-and-dry - dead | |
| air), the number of carried messages decreases because non-message traffic is | |
| occupying a larger percentage of system capacity. Network management controls | |
| are designed to reduce non-message traffic and allow more calls to complete. | |
| This results in higher customer satisfaction and increased revenue for the | |
| industry. | |
| Give Priority To Single-Link Connections | |
| ---------------------------------------- | |
| In networks designed to automatically alternate route calls, the most efficient | |
| use of available trunking occurs when traffic loads are at (or below) normal | |
| engineered values. When the engineered traffic load is exceeded, more calls | |
| alternate route and therefore are required to use more than one trunk in order | |
| to complete a call. During overload situations, the use of more than one trunk | |
| to complete a call occurs more often and the possibility of a multilink call | |
| blocking other call attempts is greatly increased. Thus, in some cases, it | |
| becomes necessary to use network management controls to limit alternate routing | |
| in order to give first routed traffic a reasonable chance to complete more | |
| calls on the network than would otherwise be completed. | |
| The responsibility of the Network Management Center is far-reaching, affecting | |
| many work groups and organizations both in Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, | |
| other telephone companies, and the customers. | |
| The NMC provides: | |
| - Real-time surveillance and control of the switching network | |
| - Identifying abnormal network situations | |
| - A centralized point for information to higher management, IC's, | |
| Independent Companies, and other BOC's. | |
| - A focal point for national security and emergency preparedness concerns | |
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| The System -- A Picture | |
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | |
| The Network Management System consists of three major components: The | |
| switching network itself, the data gathering support system, and the | |
| surveillance and control system (NMC). | |
| The NMC is driven by customer actions in the switching network which are | |
| recorded and displayed via the EADAS/NM (Engineering Administration Data | |
| Acquisition System for Network Management). Network management control actions | |
| are directed from the CRT to the switching network via the same system. | |
| Diagram; | |
| Switching Data Gathering NMC Surveillance | |
| Network System and Control | |
| ____________ __________________ ______________________ | |
| / \ / \ / \ | |
| ____________ ___ _______________ | |
| | |_______________________| | | | | |
| | Access | | E | /| Display Board | | |
| | Tandem | ___ | A | / |_______________| | |
| | | | |__________| D | / | |
| | End Office |________| E | Data | A |/ | |
| | | | A |__________| S |\ | |
| | Equal | | D | Network | / | \ | |
| | Access | | A | Controls | N | \ | |
| | End Office | | S |__________| M | \ | |
| |____________| |___| | | \ __________________ | |
| | | | \ | | | |
| _|_ | | \| Cathode Ray Tube | | |
| / \ | | |__________________| | |
| \___/ |___| | |
| - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - | |
| Introducing: The Southwestern Bell Telephone Company | |
| Network Management Centers | |
| ___________________ | |
| | | | |
| ___| Southwestern Bell |__________________________________________ | |
| | | Corporations | | | | | |
| | |___________________| ______|_______ ______|_______ ______|_______ | |
| | | || || | | |
| | | SW Bell || SW Bell || SW Bell | | |
| | |Mobile Systems|| Telecom || Publications | | |
| | |______________||______________||______________| | |
| __|________________ | |
| | | | |
| | Southwestern Bell | | |
| | Telephone | | |
| |___________________| | |
| | | |
| |----> Little Rock NMC Arkansas (Non EADAS/NM) (501)373-5126 | |
| |----> St. Louis NMC Missouri & Kansas (314)658-6044 | |
| |----> Oklahoma City NMC Oklahoma (405)278-5511 * | |
| |----> Dallas NMC North Texas (214)464-2164 | |
| |----> Houston NMC South Texas (713)850-5662 * | |
| * - After hours, this number goes to a beeper, | |
| at the tone, dial in your telephone number. | |
| - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - | |
| Summary | |
| ~~~~~~~ | |
| Network Management is the term used to describe a variety of activities | |
| associated with improving network traffic flow and customer service when | |
| abnormal conditions (unusual traffic patterns or equipment failures) may have | |
| resulted in a congested inefficient network. These activities include the | |
| application of network controls when and where necessary and planning the means | |
| by which the impact of network overloads can be minimized. | |
| Network Management is based upon the use of near real-time trunk group and | |
| switching system data and the ability to implement appropriate network controls | |
| thru the use of EADAS/NM. | |
| Network Management is concerned with completing as many calls as possible | |
| within the Intra-Lata network and providing equal treatment for the traffic | |
| flow to and from all inter-exchange carriers. | |
| "The Future Is Forever" | |
| _______________________________________________________________________________ | |