Noc Theory and Practice Timothy Brown, Independent Consultant Matthew F. Ringel, Akamai...
Transcript of Noc Theory and Practice Timothy Brown, Independent Consultant Matthew F. Ringel, Akamai...
Noc Theory and Practice
Timothy Brown, Independent ConsultantMatthew F. Ringel, Akamai Technologies, Inc.
Introduction
“So you want to build a NOC?”
Two parts: theory and practice Theory: the functional components of
a NOC, and how they’re put together. Practice: the organizational details
that make a NOC work on a day-to-day basis.
Part I: NOC Theory
Taking It Apart, Putting It Back Together.
Definitions
What is a NOC? A network operations center (NOC), is
an organizational unit that:Handles day-to-day monitoring of the
networkServes as a point of contact for
customers, internal and externalCreates, processes, and sometimes
resolves events that arise in the network
Overview
All NOCs have things in common, regardless of sizeWho and where are the customers? Internal vs. external
SLAs shape the infrastructure as well
The Model
Inputs “Something has happened” Event sources
Monitoring programs (e.g. HPOV, Netcool, netsaint,
etc.)
The Model (Cont’d)
Outputs “We have taken care of what
happened.” Event sinks
Fixing problems, handing off other issues to be resolved by others
The Model (Cont’d)
Process The actions in the middle while and
event is being worked Two schools of thought
NOC as first-level techNOC as dispatchers only
Ticketing systemsLife-cycle of an event
Scaling and Portability
Large variety of scale NORAD vs. “Two guys in a cage”.
Portability Can you pick up and monitor
somewhere else? Integral to Disaster recovery
Example: Bare-Bones NOC
Are all the functions there?
Example: NORAD-style NOC
Are all the functions there?
The Portable NOC
The definition of NOC says nothing about locationNOC isn’t just a set of big screens with blinkenlights.“Go home and monitor!”Distributed functions
Model of the Portable NOC
Are all the functions there? Inputs Outputs Services
Evaluation: Portable NOC
Organizational Unit, independent of location.Centralized event sources and sinks with distributed observersDiminished intra-NOC communications, but sufficient for emergency.
Conclusion
A NOC is not just a place It’s a set of inputs, outputs and
processes that are accomplished by people.
Function is similar regardless of scalePortability is important And it emphasizes the functional
divisions
Next- Part 2: The Nuts & Bolts