Book Review

Book Review
Authors :Benoit Claise, CCIE
Ralf Wolter
Publisher : Cisco Press
ISBN -13 : 978-1-58705-198-2
Title : Network Management : Accounting and Performance Strategies.
Reviewer : Dr. Wole Akpose, CISSP.

Network management is as much an art as it is a science, and like every knowledge based profession it requires informed access to the most cogent set of information. This is more apt, given the growing plethora of network protocols and technologies even by a single vendor. Wadding through the huge hog of information about appropriate technology solutions require either a long period of experience and direct continuous engagement with various (and increasing number of) technology groups and trade association, an extensive reading habit and lots of practice, or access the most relevant up-to-date source about the primary sets of modern tools. The latter is what the book "Network Management : Accounting and Performance Strategies" by Benoit Claise and Ralf Wolter (from Cisco Press) provides.

The book is a concise treatise on basic set of modern network management tools, protocols and services, mostly with strong IETF standard background, but from a Cisco-centric view.

Today's network managers have to worry about performance, billing, security, and requirement/use trends. Fortunately, tools exist today to help network managers address these concerns, but identifying the appropriate tools from a wide array of options and potentials is always a major challenge. This book organizes that information in a relatively easy to access manner.

Organized into three logical sections, which I characterize as; motivation, technologies, and application scenarios, the book is as thorough, as its arrangement is logical.

If you are wondering why you should buy the book, the first chapter (Understanding the need for Accounting and Performance Management) provides a quick overview of why. It presents fundamentals of network accounting and performance management, clarifying the differences between both while highlighting the overlaps in the technologies and frameworks for both. Operational areas including security, SLA management, QoS billing, capacity planning, availability and voice management are all addressed in enough details to warrant further reading, but also enough to provide a complete picture of the common worries of today's network manager.

Chapter 2, also in the first part, is devoted to data collection methodologies for various operational requirements. such as SLA measurements (using IP SLA in Cisco IOS), determination of meter location (network elements or network-edge-device) and so on. The chapter also provides a detailed expose on network data-collection infrastructure including a brief introduction to basic data collection tools including snmp, netflow and ftp. By the end of the chapter, the reader would be apprised of basic data filtering method as well as security considerations for data integrity and confidentiality (privacy) and how to protect against denial of service.

And while you're wondering if you had enough, chapter 3 rounds off the first part of the book with a review of current network accounting and performance standards and definitions from ITU-T standards and frameworks through IETF and ISO standards as well as popular proprietary frameworks. Some of the standards and definitions addressed include the ITU-T Telecommunications Management Network(TMN) Fault Configuration, Accounting, Performance, and Security (FCAPS) model; the TeleManagement Forum(TMF) eTOM (enhanced Telecom Operations Map); and pertinent IETF RFCs including 2924, 2975 et-cetera. At the end of the chapter, you will be prepared to make informed choices about various data collection, network accounting and performance protocols and technologies. Your next network management purchase will be less of a chore, and you will know what questions to ask of your network administrator as you try to identify what tool sets you may already have or have access to simply by upgrading your network operating system such as Cisco IOS.

For the most part, the first three chapters can be read as a stand alone work by network managers. And from my experience, I'll advice all network managers (particularly those who are not CCIE certified, and do not have more than 15 years experience with networks) to grab a copy. The chapters will give you the desired leap you need to better understand the various options in tools, technologies and solutions. For this reason, the book is a must buy.

The next nine chapters are more intense and geared towards administrators and analysts. Of course, many network managers also wear that hat at some point. The section covers disparate network management frameworks, protocols and tools implemented in various cisco devices and includes a generous amount of cisco IOS commands to get you started. Each chapter is devoted to one set of tools including SNMP and MIBs, RMON, IP Accounting, NetFlow, BGP Policy Accounting, AAA Accounting, NBAR, and IPSLA. If you ask me, this is probably one of the most thorough single collection of these materials in the most pedestrian fashion. That is the material while adequately technical is quite easy to follow and will get you started quickly, empowering you with tools and tricks to help you achieve some of your network management objectives be it for performance management , billing or security management. Of course the book does not replace the various tools out there meant to address these needs, but it simplifies your evaluation process and decisioning. Chapter twelve (the ninth in this part) brings everything in the section together for the reader with a set of comparative tables of all the tools, technologies and frameworks described in the prior chapters of the book.

Part three of the book, which consist of five chapter, is indeed an icing. Each chapter addresses an operational scenario: monitoring scenario, capacity planning scenario, voice scenario, security scenario and billing scenario. In each chapter the authors identify the set of tools most apt for each operational scenario and provide enough motivation for the network administrator / manager such that you can easily start with tools you may already own.

Of course the book is from Cisco press and written by Cisco engineers, so the tools described, their operations, the various devices and the commands are all Cisco based. However, the material covered is generic enough to be useful to all manners of network managers, engineers and administrators. So I am recommending this book as a must have with a rating of at least 4 start out of five. Needless to say, I have it on my shelve.