How to Enhance Network Monitoring in Enterprise Data Centers Using SNMP Capabilities

Just under a week ago, I completed a project assisting a client in upgrading their network monitoring at their Enterprise Data Center by detecting and communicating technical network failures to an alarm dashboard display

My client needed help incorporating network technical failure alarms into a project he was planning for a venture into a government organization in a country overseas.

I immediately recommended leveraging my client's existing SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) capabilities.

I recognized that this was a great opportunity for me to elaborate further on why SNMP is great for displaying network failures.

Why It's Important to Monitor Technical Network Failures in Data Centers

Monitoring technical network failures in data centers is important for maintaining your network's overall health and performance. By actively monitoring for technical failures, you can spot issues before they escalate into disasters such as:

• Server crashes.
• Network outages.
• Data loss.

You will also have a more in-depth understanding of your network and its performance.

This would be possible because, with technical failure monitoring, you start to understand your network's performance and potential vulnerabilities.

You will also start making better-informed decisions when it comes to allocating budget and resources.

How SNMP Enables Effective Network Monitoring

To understand how SNMP can serve your technical network monitoring needs, you need to understand what SNMP does:

• Gathers data from network devices.
• Organizes and presents the data in a standardized format.
• Facilitates communication between network devices and monitoring systems.

SNMP bridges your network devices and monitoring system. This allows you to monitor technical failures within your network efficiently and effectively by gathering all data in one place.

SNMP is a widely adopted protocol in the SCADA monitoring industry, which makes it accessible as a communication protocol. The SNMPv3 adds extra layers of protection as well.

Let's take a look at how SNMP capabilities enhance and improve your network monitoring in enterprise data centers:

1. Centralized Management: SNMP enables centralized management of network devices. This makes it easier to monitor and manage network failures from one central location such as the T/MON. This also eliminates the need for manual checks on individual devices, saving time and resources.
2. Real-Time Alerts: SNMP makes real-time alerts for network failures possible. This helps in notifying network administrators immediately when an issue arises. This also enables quick response times, which minimizes downtime and potential business impact.
3. Customizable Monitoring: You're able to customize what specific parameters or events you want to monitor with SNMP. This is great for any future expansions in your infrastructure because it means you can easily scale with it.
4. Historical Data Analysis: SNMP makes historical data analysis possible. This allows you to analyze past network failures and recognize trends. You can then use these trends to predict events such as overheating, power leaks, system downtimes, etc.

Click here for a more detailed overview of how SNMP works.

Find a Manufacturer That Allows You to Monitor Any Protocol

One of the biggest advantages of SNMP is its versatility. It can be used to monitor any protocol or device that supports it, regardless of the manufacturer.

This means you have the flexibility to choose different devices and protocols without worrying about compatibility issues.

Look for a manufacturer that offers SNMP support for all their products, as well as other monitoring protocols such as Modbus, DNP

I recommended my client DPS Telecom's NOC (Network Of Operations)

A NOC center is a centralized location where operators directly support the efforts of remote monitoring your network and responding to potential problems.

NOC's key purposes are:

1. Early Issue Detection: A good manufacturer equips their NOC with monitoring capabilities that allow you to detect things such as network failures, outages, deteriorating system performances, etc.
2. Notifications and Alerts: The staff responsible for monitoring the NOC will receive alerts and notifications about network events such as issues on their phones and emails. If you have a good manufacturer, you will be provided with either email gateway Text-2-Cell or cellular Text-2-cell. These two gateways allow you to receive text messages.
3. Documenting and Reporting Events: NOCs report and maintain your network configuration documents. This can consist of things such as incident reports or regular network performance reports.
4. Capacity Planning: You can monitor your network's usage with NOCs to figure out capacity trends and anticipate when to allocate extra resources toward your network's capacity in the future.
5. Optimizing Performances: NOCs optimize network performance by identifying and removing or circumventing bottlenecks.

The important thing to consider when picking a NOC manufacturer is whether they are a customization-friendly manufacturer. This will allow you to communicate with more than just SNMP, you can use standard and proprietary communication methods.

DPS Telecom Can Configure a NOC For Your Unique Application

DPS Telecom has engineers and other technical experts on hand who have helped build the company with many years in the industry. We offer detailed guides to help clients understand our products and learn how to take care of them on their own.

We understand that your network operation is different from others, and we are ready to provide you with 25 communication protocols and NOCs that fit your needs.

The focus at DPS Telecom isn't on whether we "can" do something, but on "how" we'll achieve it. Treat DPS Telecom as your own personal engineer.

If you have any projects that you think we could be of help in, or if you have any further questions on the topics covered in this article, please feel free to reach out.

Even if we can't find a solution together, I will do my best to point you in the right direction.

Whatever questions you have, give me a call at 1-800-693-0351. You can also send a quick email to sales@dpstele.com

Ziad Alezabi

Ziad Alezabi is a Application Documentarian at DPS Telecom. He reviews successful DPS client projects and reports on the best practices that you can use to successfully reach your own project goals.