Q&A
General Overview
Q. What is the Cisco Network Connectivity Center (NCC) Network Connectivity Monitor (NCM)?
A. Cisco NCC-NCM is a core component of the Cisco NCC, the latest addition to the Cisco family of management solutions designed to help make Cisco networks the most manageable and available in the industry. NCM pinpoints network connectivity problems in real time and identifies their impact on the network. NCM works standalone, with other components from Cisco NCC, or can combine the device status and health information from CiscoWorks DFM and CiscoWorks ITEM with its own network connectivity analysis, and display the results in the NCM monitoring console.
Q. What is new in NCM version 1.1?
A. Key additions to NCM in v1.1 include
Q. What is the difference between Cisco NCC and NCM?
A. Cisco NCC is a product suite. NCM is a foundation component of the Cisco NCC product suite focused on finding the true root cause and impacts of IP network connectivity issues. Other components in the Cisco NCC product suite extend beyond IP networks to other technologies and products, including MPLS, network protocols including BGP and OSPF, and application services.
Q. How is NCM packaged?
A. Customers typically begin with the "starter kit," which provides the application software and a license for 50 or 100 network devices, allowing users to immediately monitor critical device connectivity across the network from a single management console. Users may choose which devices require monitoring, or monitor any combination of devices in their network. Depending on the size of the network and the number of devices to be monitored, additional device licenses and management consoles may be added to the NCM starter kit.
Technical Overview
Q. Is NCM an OEM of SMARTS InCharge technology?
A. Yes, NCM is an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) product based on SMARTS® InCharge™ technology.
Q. Does NCM manage applications and business processes as well as networks?
A. NCM focuses on network-layer connectivity and availability issues. Other modules of the Cisco NCC suite integrate with NCM to bring solutions for other domains including systems, applications, and the business processes that run on them, to provide a complete view of business services and how issues at any of these layers affect those services and the customers relying on them.
Q. What platforms does NCM support?
A. NCM runs on Windows and Solaris.
Q. What type of event rules do I need to write to support the equipment in my network? What happens if I add more ports on one or more of my switches, do I have to rewrite my rules?
A. Providing immediate out-of-the-box value, NCM has connectivity analysis intelligence built in to determine root cause network-related failures which doesn't require users to specify or modify rules. Users may optionally modify polling parameters and threshold values to suit their needs. As the network grows and changes, NCM will detect changes in network devices and links and automatically adjust its analysis accordingly.
Q. I am currently using an enterprise event management system for fault management. Do I need NCM? Why?
A. NCM is designed to look into a customer's present mode of operations, whether installed as a standalone system, integrated with CiscoWorks DFM, CiscoWorks ITEM, or with other event management systems, such as HP OpenView, Tivoli NetView, Cisco Info Center, or SMARTS InCharge. When integrating with other event management systems, NCM can act as a network connectivity analysis subsystem, forwarding its analysis to other applications used within a customer's present mode of operations.
Whether used standalone or as a network connectivity subsystem, users of NCM will get the following benefits:
· Faster mean-time-to-repair-By pinpointing connectivity problems in real time, NCM eliminates many time-consuming manual event analysis, helping to ensure that effective corrective action can begin, often even before significant network service degradation.
· More manageable means more available-With faster problem isolation, unplanned downtime can be prevented and networked business applications are more available.
· Your investment value grows with you- The NCM system can be easily expanded as the network grows or changes. NCM automatically updates its analysis and reporting when the network changes, reducing ongoing maintenance.
· Immediate value-NCM is easy to install and adds value out-of-the-box. Taking advantage of its integrated knowledge of Cisco and other
network devices, NCM eliminates the need for costly and time-consuming development of custom rules and their implementations.
Q. I understand NCM ships configured out of the box with thresholds and polling intervals already established for a wide range of devices. Can I tune these settings to meet the unique needs of my network?
A. Yes, NCM users with administration rights can tune all the thresholds and polling intervals.
Q. I am currently running CiscoWorks Device Fault Manager (DFM) and/or CiscoWorks IP Telephony Environment Monitor (ITEM) in my network. How does NCM tie in with these products?
A. NCM consolidates and cross-correlates results of its own fault analysis, along with the events and analysis generated by CiscoWorks DFM and/or CiscoWorks ITEM. It also performs intelligent processing functions, such as aggregating and analyzing its knowledge of device relationships across the network to pinpoint network connectivity problems in real time and identifying their impact on the network. For example, DFM may report two switch ports as down while NCM will further correlate to determine the cable between the 2 switches is down.
Q. Are either CiscoWorks DFM or CiscoWorks ITEM prerequisites for NCM?
A. No, CiscoWorks DFM and CiscoWorks ITEM are not prerequisites for NCM. NCM works standalone, or can combine the device status and health information from CiscoWorks DFM and CiscoWorks ITEM with its own network connectivity analysis, and display the results in the NCM monitoring console.
Q. What is the difference between CiscoWorks Device Fault Manger and NCM?
A. CiscoWorks DFM provides real-time, detailed fault analysis, designed specifically for Cisco devices. It strictly monitors at the device level for system- and interface-level events, seeking problems within a device. NCM provides automated network-wide connectivity and impact analysis for Cisco networks. NCM can identify service-affecting problems, including the effect on interrelated logical and physical device connectivity. NCM determines and presents the effect of how a problem with one Cisco device can affect other Cisco devices in the network. Customers who want both detailed Cisco device and network connectivity fault analysis can integrate CiscoWorks DFM and NCM.
Q. What is the difference between CiscoWorks ITEM and NCM?
A. The CiscoWorks ITEM is a suite of network management applications and several optional drop-in modules that provide a powerful solution to monitor and manage IP telephony implementations. CiscoWorks ITEM enables operations and administrative personnel to check the state and operational health of critical resources in their converged networks that support IP telephony as well as voice-over-IP (VoIP) implementations. Customers who want detailed Cisco device, IP telephony, and network connectivity fault analysis can integrate CiscoWorks ITEM and NCM.
Q. Can NCM run on the same server as other CiscoWorks applications?
A. No. NCM requires a dedicated server. It cannot run on the same server with other CiscoWorks applications, but it is designed to integrate fault data from CiscoWorks DFM and CiscoWorks ITEM, running on separate servers.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
For more information about the Cisco Network Connectivity Center - Network Connectivity Monitor 1.1, visit www.cisco.com/go/ncm or contact your local account representative or cs-cncc@external.cisco.com .
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