How to Make a Low-Cost, No-Sacrifice Transition to SNMP Alarm Monitoring by Bob Berry

Transcription

1 DPS Telecom Your Partners in Network Alarm Monitoring How to Make a Low-Cost, No-Sacrifice Transition to SNMP Alarm Monitoring by Bob Berry Proven Solutions for Easy Legacy-SNMP and Legacy-TL1 Integration and Migration Implement SNMP without Losing Visibility of Your Existing Non-SNMP Equipment How to Mediate Contact Closures, TABS, TBOS, ASCII or Any Other Telemetry Protocol to SNMP Traps or TL1 Autonomous Messages Version 1.0 Released January 11,

2 About the Author Bob Berry is the founder and CEO of DPS Telecom, a leading developer of integrated network alarm monitoring solutions. Bob's engineering skill and dedication to solving his clients' real-world problems has grown DPS from a small consulting firm to an Inc. 500 company. Copyright 2005 DPS Telecom All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this white paper or portions thereof in any form without written permission from DPS Telecom. For information, please write to DPS Telecom 4955 E. Yale Ave., Fresno, CA Call: info@dpstele.com Printed in the U.S.A 2

3 How This White Paper Will Help You If you re moving your network to SNMP-based alarm monitoring, you ve got a problem. How are you going to manage all your existing equipment that does not support SNMP? You can t afford to just replace all your old equipment. You can t lose alarm visibility of critical equipment, either. This white paper will show you proven, field-tested protocol mediation solutions that will integrate your non-snmp equipment with your SNMP manager, without you having to spend a fortune on replacement or sacrificing essential alarm capabilities. TL1 users face all the same issues of integrating legacy equipment. The protocol mediation solutions in this paper will also mediate legacy alarms to TL1 autonomous messages. Contents Do you need a protocol mediation solution? What equipment can be mediated to SNMP and TL1? OK, so I CAN mediate all that stuff but why SHOULD I? Protocol mediation beats the alternatives You can t afford to replace large sections of your network You need to monitor ALL your equipment And you need to monitor everything on one screen Considering the alternatives, protocol mediation is the best choice, because it How does protocol mediation work? A field-tested, proven SNMP/TL1 alarm mediation solution Protocol mediation options How do I know it works? Where can I get more information? I m ready to take a serious look at T/Mon protocol mediation what do I do next? My promise to you T/Mon NOC Product Data Sheet Partial list of protocols and devices supported by T/Mon NOC T/Mon NOC Specifications Back Cover 3

4 Do you need a protocol mediation solution? SNMP-Native Equipment SNMP Manager Legacy Non-SNMP Equipment Legacy Equipmen Legacy Equipment Legacy Equipmen Legacy Equipment Legacy Master Legacy Equipmen Legacy Equipment If your network monitoring looks like this, you should think seriously about a protocol mediation solution. Protocol mediation is right for you if You have implemented, are currently implementing, or are making plans to implement SNMPbased or TL1-based alarm monitoring. You have a significant installed base of non-snmp/non-tl1 equipment that you need to monitor. You don t want to waste money replacing functional non-snmp/non-tl1 equipment. You don t want to lose network visibility of your non-snmp/non-tl1 equipment. It s not smart and in most cases, not financially possible to try to move to a completely SNMPbased or TL1-based monitoring network in one step. The costs of equipment replacement are huge, and there s no guarantee that a purely SNMP or TL1 solution will provide all the functionality you need. Protocol mediation puts you in charge of your SNMP/TL1 implementation, reducing your costs and enabling you to maintain a high level of network visibility. The right protocol mediation solution will convert alarms from all your older equipment no matter what protocol it uses to SNMP traps or TL1 autonomous messages, so you can view all your equipment from your central SNMP or TL1 manager. With guaranteed compatibility between your older equipment and your manager, you can replace your older equipment when you choose or you can keep it in operation for its full working life. 4

5 What equipment can be mediated to SNMP and TL1? Switches Microwave radios Routers SONET equipment Channel banks Channel Service Units (CSUs) Switches Digital Access Cross-Connect Systems (DACS) Digital Service Units (DSUs) Network Interface Units (NIUs) Multiplexers Muldems Modbus devices SONET Equipment ASCII printer and logger devices Any equipment that generates alarms in ASCII, DCM, DCP, DCPf, DCPx, E2A, TABS, TBOS, or TL1 Older remote telemetry units that use manufacturers proprietary protocols: Badger, Dantel, NEC, Larse, Pulsecom, Teltrac, and others Any equipment that generates contact closure alarms Infrastructure equipment connected to discrete or analog sensors: battery plants, temperature sensors, flood alarms, generators, HVAC systems, door closures, and more. In fact, any equipment that you re currently monitoring can be mediated to SNMP or TL1 and TL1 and SNMP can be mediated to each other, too. And if you have any equipment that you re not currently monitoring, but you know you should implementing protocol mediation is the ideal opportunity to integrate all your equipment into one umbrella monitoring system. Microwave Radios PBXs Battery Packs DACS Channel Banks Routers 5

6 Show this to your boss! If you re reading this white paper, you probably already know you need a protocol mediation solution in your network. But you might need to persuade your boss or your company s money people of the value of protocol mediation, so I m giving you some arguments you can use. If you d like a copy of this white paper without this note, so you can show it to management without them knowing what you and I are up to, call me at and I ll send you a copy for free. If you want to skip ahead to the nuts and bolts of how protocol mediation works, go to How does protocol mediation work? on page 8. OK, so I CAN mediate all that stuff but why SHOULD I? First of all, you might not have a choice. Upper management may have simply mandated that you forward all your network management data from whatever system you re using now to a central SNMP or TL1 manager. If that s your situation or you already know you re interested in protocol mediation feel free to skip ahead to How does protocol mediation work? on page 8. But maybe you or your boss need to see why a protocol mediation solution is a good idea. What specific benefits will you get from protocol mediation? Here s three. Protocol mediation will lower costs; preserve capabilities; and maximize efficiency. Protocol mediation beats the alternatives Let s consider your current situation. You re moving, or you ve already moved, to SNMP or TL1 alarm monitoring, but you have a lot of previously installed equipment that does not support SNMP or TL1. What are your options? You can: 1. Replace all your non-snmp/non-tl1 equipment with an SNMP/TL1-native equivalent. 2. Monitor the SNMP/TL1 equipment with your SNMP/TL1 manager and not monitor the non- SNMP/TL1 equipment. 3. Monitor the SNMP/TL1 equipment with your SNMP/TL1 manager and monitor the non- SNMP/non-TL1 equipment with a separate telemetry system. 4. Integrate SNMP and non-snmp or TL1 and non-tl1 monitoring with protocol mediation. Let me show you why Options 1, 2 and 3 are bad ideas You can t afford to replace large sections of your network If you had a handful of small, cheap non-snmp devices in a network of mostly SNMP equipment, I d tell you to go ahead and replace them. But that s probably not your situation. I bet that, if you re reading this white paper, you ve got enough non-snmp or non-tl1 equipment that the thought of replacing it all makes you go green. Depending on the size of your network, the cost of a forklift swapout of your non-snmp and non-tl1 equipment can range from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars. 6

7 And it s not just the cost of replacing equipment. Do you have the manpower to install all that new equipment? And how much will that cost you in overtime? The bottom line is, keeping your non-snmp and non-tl1 equipment in place is going to save you a ton of money more than enough to justify the much smaller cost of a protocol mediation solution. You need to monitor ALL your equipment What s the real value of an alarm system? It s easy to think of alarm monitoring as just an expense one that maybe you can live without. If you ve got an SNMP management platform that monitors most of your major communications equipment, do you really need to worry about that section of old analog radio sites in Cow County? Absolutely. If those radios go down, it could kill service to a large section of your network. Those folks up in Cow County are your subscribers, too and they ll switch to another carrier as fast as anyone, if you disappoint them. And in the long run, monitoring all your sites is cheaper than keeping them invisible. Your older sites are just as expensive to maintain as any site in your network possibly even more expensive, given the age of the equipment. Proactive alarm monitoring will dramatically reduce your maintenance costs. If you can monitor those sites in real time, you can find out about problems when they re simple and cheap to fix. Without monitoring, you won t find out about problems until they cause a service outage and that usually involves thousands of dollars of equipment damage as well. And you need to monitor everything on one screen Or let s say you do monitor your non-snmp/non-tl1 equipment but it s through a separate, unintegrated, legacy alarm system. You ve got everything covered, so you don t need protocol mediation, right? Actually, trying to monitor by watching two or more screens is almost as bad as not monitoring at all. Tracking network alarms across different screens and interfaces is hard work. It confuses even the best system operators. Sooner or later, someone s going to miss a major alarm especially if people have gotten into the habit of really only looking at one system, because that s where all the important stuff is. What s more, your non-snmp/non-tl1 alarm system is probably an older system, possibly installed in the 1980s along with those analog radios in Cow County. It may be breaking down a lot, and it s certainly difficult and expensive to maintain. And your older alarm system doesn t support the tools you need today, like 24/7 pager and notification. Compared to the alternatives, protocol mediation is the best choice because it Eliminates the financial shock of a forklift swapout of your non-snmp and non-tl1 equipment. Guarantees visibility of all your network equipment. Prevents network service outages and equipment damage caused by avoidable equipment failures. Cuts maintenance costs. Creates a unified, immediately understandable view of your whole network. 7

8 How does protocol mediation work? Transport Equipment (Switches, Microwave Radios, SONET, etc.) Mediation Device Power Supply Systems (Generators, Rectifiers, Battery Plants, etc.) LAN / WAN Environmental Alarms (Temperature, Humidity, Site Security, etc.) SNMP/TL1 Manager A protocol mediation device rewrites your alarms to a format that s compatible with your SNMP or TL1 manager. A communication protocol is just a format for encoding information typically in the form of a data packet containing the payload data (the actual message) and a header (extra bits containing address and routing information specific to the protocol). Protocol mediation works by putting a new header on the payload data. The protocol mediation device receives the alarm input, extracts the payload data, re-encodes the payload data in the format of another protocol, and forwards the re-encoded alarm to the alarm master. For our purposes, this means taking an alarm in TABS, TBOS, etc., and converting it into an SNMP trap message or TL1 autonomous message. Contact closures, which aren t in the form of a framed protocol, are directly encoded as SNMP traps or TL1 autonomous messages. The protocol mediation device knows how to do this because it has an internal database that relates one alarm protocol to another. (This is important, for reasons I ll explain on the next page.) Those are the essentials of how protocol mediation works but what kind of protocol mediation solution should you choose for your network? 8

9 A field-tested, proven SNMP/TL1 alarm mediation solution T/Mon NOC mediates 25 different protocols to SNMP or TL1 and gives you unified alarm monitoring visibility of your entire network. My company, DPS Telecom, manufactures T/Mon NOC, which can serve as an alarm master for your entire network or as a general protocol mediation solution. T/Mon NOC can mediate alarms in 25 different protocols to SNMP and it can mediate alarms to other protocols, as well, like ASCII, DCP, E2A, TABS, TBOS and TL1. T/Mon can do all this because of the power of its internal database. Remember how I said that the database makes protocol mediation possible? Well, T/Mon has one common database for all alarms. All alarms that T/Mon receives, whatever their source, are immediately written to one common format. Once an alarm is in the T/Mon database, it s immediately convertible to SNMP or any other of T/Mon s 14 output protocols. There s no simpler way to ensure that your equipment is SNMP-compatible. You don t have to hunt for the right MIBs. You don t have to worry about adapting your non-snmp equipment on your own. If your equipment is supported by T/Mon NOC, it will work with your SNMP manager. It s as simple as that. What will T/Mon protocol mediation do for you? With support for 25 protocols and hundreds of different devices, T/Mon will support all the monitored equipment in your network. (To get an idea of what T/Mon can do, see the Partial list of protocols and devices supported by T/Mon NOC on page ) T/Mon provides a single, one-screen view of all your monitored equipment. T/Mon will tell you 100% for certain whether anything has gone wrong with any of your monitored equipment, so you can be absolutely sure there are no secret problems anywhere in your network. You can forward alarm output to multiple targets, so if you need to, you can monitor a large network of diverse devices with T/Mon, and forward all the alarms to several SNMP managers, a TL1-based OSS center, and an ASCII recorder all at once. You can filter alarms for the needs of different users. You can select which alarms are forwarded to your SNMP manager, which alarms can be viewed locally on the T/Mon NOC console, and which alarms are just logged to a history file for recording and later analysis. 9

10 At every level of your organization, people can see the information they want without being bombarded with nuisance alarms. T/Mon doesn t just support legacy protocols it also supports legacy transports like dial-up, RS-232, RS-422/485, 202 modem, FSK modem and PSK modem. Getting a LAN connection to distant remote sites can be the biggest challenge to implementing SNMP and TL1. T/Mon eliminates that problem completely. Equipment and remote sites that don t support IP transport can be effortlessly integrated to your SNMP or TL1 manager. Actually, this list just scratches the surface of T/Mon NOC s capabilities. For more information about what T/Mon NOC can do for you, see the T/Mon NOC Product Data Sheet on page 13. Protocol mediation options: NetGuardian and NetMediator T/Mon NOC is a large-scale protocol mediation solution designed for combining alarms from your entire network to a single stream of SNMP trap data. But if you need protocol mediation on a smaller, less complex scale, you might be interested in the NetGuardian and NetMediator. These RTU-sized, remote site devices are just right for simple protocol mediation applications. The NetGuardian 832A is a full-featured SNMP RTU, or proxy agent device, which mediates contact closures and analog voltages to SNMP traps. The NetGuardian supports 32 discrete inputs, 32 ping alarms, 8 analog inputs, 8 controls, and 8 serial reach-through ports, and it reports to multiple SNMP managers and T/Mon NOC. For more information, check out the NetGuardian on the Web at The NetMediator has all the RTU capabilities of the NetGuardian plus, it mediates inputs from other devices to SNMP. The NetMediator isn t a general protocol mediator like T/Mon; it s a small, dedicated platform for mediating one protocol to SNMP. A new NetMediator design can be customtailored for your specific monitoring needs; off the shelf, there are NetMediator models for mediating TBOS and TABS to SNMP. Which of these options is right for your network? It all depends on your specific applications and needs. Before you decide, get some expert advice. Call and ask to speak to a DPS Telecom Applications Engineer about a free network needs assessment. You won t get any pressure to buy or pushy salesmen just some honest, expert help. You have my word on it. 10

11 How do I know it works? T/Mon NOC is not a new or untested product. T/Mon units have been in the field for years, successfully performing SNMP adn TL1 mediation tasks for clients who need stable, bulletproof monitoring to support their mission-critical operations. What do clients who use DPS protocol mediation solutions say? I was looking for a way to integrate our local ILEC region into HP OpenView without a major network change. T/Mon s SNMP responder was the answer. The migration will allow us not only to monitor all alarms in one spot but also build extensive collection reports of our whole network. Todd Matherne, EATEL DPS Telecom gave us a reliable way of accessing a variety of equipment, regardless of the brand or provider. We now have a common interface for our existing system. Harold Moses, KMC Telecom DPS told us we didn t have to pay if it didn t work. It works and it s sweet. Glenn Lippincott, Southern Company It s hard to find companies with the intelligence and aptitude to meet the customer s exact needs, and I believe that is what DPS is all about. Lee Wells, Pathnet If you d like to see more real-life examples of what people are achieving with T/Mon NOC, check out Where can I get more information? You can get more background information on SNMP and TL1 mediation from the DPS Telecom Web site. We offer white papers, interactive Web demonstrations, online application guides and our bimonthly ezine, The Protocol. White Papers Five Steps to Successful SNMP-Legacy Integration The Fast Track Introduction to SNMP Alarm Monitoring How to Implement SNMP Monitoring in Your Network: A Practical, Step-by-Step Guide How to Read and Understand the SNMP MIB Affordable Upgrades for Older Alarm Monitoring Systems 11

12 Online Resources SNMP Applications Knowledge Base: Alarm Monitoring Survival Guides: Telecom Network Management Library: Ezine Free sample issue of The Protocol Alarm Monitoring Ezine: Free subscription to The Protocol Alarm Monitoring Ezine: I m ready to take a serious look at T/Mon protocol mediation what do I do next? Call or Rick Dodd at or rdodd@dpstele.com and ask for a free consultation on T/Mon protocol mediation solutions. Rick will be happy to discuss your specific requirements and answer any questions your have. There s no obligation to buy. You won t be bothered by high-pressure salesmen. You ll just get straightforward information to help you make the best decision about your network monitoring. You ll get complete information on hardware, software, specific applications, specifications, features and benefits plus you ll be able to ask questions and get straight answers. My promise to you I don t think you should have to take any risks to get the alarm monitoring capabilities you need. If you decide to work with me, I won t let you fail. If my solution doesn t solve your problems 100%, I don t want you to have it. I have three goals: I want to sell my product, I want you to use my product, and I want you to be completely satisfied with my product. If my product doesn t fulfill those goals, I will fix it, improve it, or give you your money back. If my stuff doesn t wow you, I don t want your business. So here s my guarantee to you: if you buy a DPS Telecom solution, you can test at your site, under realworld conditions, for 30 days. If you re dissatisfied with it, for any reason, just send it back and you ll get a full refund, no questions asked. So please if you re interested in an SNMP or TL1protocol mediation solution, do yourself a favor and call us today at Your network s needs can t wait. I promise you we ll deliver a solution to your problems, at no risk to you. I wish you the best of success with your network management! Sincerely, Bob Berry President and Chief Executive Officer DPS Telecom 12

13 DPS Telecom Product Data Sheet Your Partners in Network Alarm Monitoring T/Mon NOC What You Can Do with T/Mon NOC: Monitor alarms in 25 protocols, including ASCII, Badger, Cordell, DCM, DCP, DCPf, DCPx, DCM, E2A, Larse, Modbus, NEC, Pulsecom, SNMP, TABS, TBOS and TL1 Know the status of your network with 100% certainty. Send pager and notifications to maintenance staff 24/7 Mediate alarms to your existing master or MOM Field-proven system that is 100% guaranteed to work for you Advanced monitoring features for your real-world needs Support for quick turnup and lifetime maintenance Smooth migration to advanced monitoring, built on your existing monitoring equipment T/Mon NOC Overview T/Mon NOC is a multi-protocol, multifunction alarm manager that collects alarms from all your equipment, regardless of manufacturer or protocol, eliminating the need for specialized terminals. With T/Mon NOC, you can: Monitor alarms in 25 standard, legacy and proprietary protocols. Mediate alarm data to different protocols. Forward alarm data to other masters. Display the status of your entire network on one screen. Send pager and alarm notifications to multiple users automatically. Present network status and alarm information to multiple users connected via LAN, dial-up or serial port. Control remote site equipment manually or automatically in response to alarm inputs. Administer a centralized configuration database for your whole network. Maintain alarm history logs and create reports of alarm events. 13

14 Partial list of protocols and devices supported by T/Mon NOC ASCII Any device with plain text formatted output (craft ports, etc.) ROP (Report Only Printer) ports PBX Switches Class 5 Switches Microwave radios Routers AEB AFC DLC Alcatel DACS CDMA CEB Cerent OC48 Cisco (SONET) Cisco OC48 Definity System 75 Digtac Ericsson Switch Fujitsu FLM 150 Harris Radio Lucent 5ESS Lucent ECP Lucent OC48 Motorola CBSC Motorola EMX Nokia Switch Nortel DMS-10 Nortel DMS-100 Nortel DMS-250 Nortel DMS-500 Nortel MTX250 Nortel OC48 Nortel PCS OMC System Paradyne 740 PBX Switches Tellabs DACS Tellabs DACS 5500 Badger Badger 481 Badger 1200 Larse 1200 Badger Mini-Master Badger 482 Cordell Datalok Pulsecom Datalok 10A Pulsecom Datalok 10D Other Pulsecom Datalok devices DCM Dantel 460 Alarm & Control System (ACS) Dantel MAT Dantel CPM Dantel VDM Dantel SBP sub-assembly DCP (DCP, DCPf, DCPx, DCP1) Any DCP enabled device DPS Telecom remotes Dantel 460 Alarm & Control System (ACS) E2, E2A Any E2 or E2A enabled device DPS Telecom KDA-E2A DPS Telecom NTP (Network Telemetry Processor) Lucent DAS (Digital Alarm Scanner) remote Lucent APR (Alarm Processing Remote) Lucent ATP (Advanced Telemetry Processor) Lucent GTP (General Telemetry Processor) Lucent SAC (Status and Command) remote Felix FX8800 Granger 8000 Alarm System ICMP PING Any network enabled device (printers, servers, routers, RTUs, etc.) 14

15 Modbus Any Modbus ASCII device Any Modbus RTU device Any Modbus TCP/IP device Analog and contact closure sensors Environmental sensors (temp, humidity, etc.) Tridium JACE 512 NEC 21SV NEC 21SV supervisory and control remotes NEC 21RB supervisory and control remote NEC 21GTX fault-management system NTP Network Time Protocol Synchronize the T/Mon clock to Network Time Servers TL1 Any device that supports TL1 PBX Switches Class 5 Switches Microwave radios Routers SONET equipment TMonNet (Network of multiple T/Mons) POP3 - acknowledgment of alarm notifications in T/Mon SMTP - notifications of alarms sent from T/Mon SNMP Any device that supports SNMP TABS Any device that supports the TABS protocol NEC RC-28D digital multiplexer TBOS Any device that supports TBOS DPS Telecom remotes Alcatel DML-3X50 Digital Muldem/ Lightwave multiplexer Lucent DDM 1000 DS3 multiplexer Lucent DDM 2000 OC-12 multiplexer Lucent DDM 2000 OC-3 multiplexer Microwave radios Multiplexers NEC Async NEC FD multiplexer Nortel FD-565 Nortel Async (now CTDI Async product line of Digital Loop Carriers (DLCs), Channel Banks, and Multiplexers) OC-3s from various manufacturers Telco Systems Teltrac devices 15

16 Swappable Port Interface Cartridges Internal Modem Port Cartridge Extractor Printer Parallel Port Keyboard Port COM Port & Video Out T/Mon NOC Specifications Dimensions: 10.5" (6 RU) H x 17" W x 14" D Mounting: 19" or 23" rack Power Input: Dual 48 VDC or 110 VAC (depending on ordering options) Fuse: Two 2-Amp GMT fuses Operating Temperature: 32 to 95 F (0 to 36 C) Operating Humidity: 0% to 95% (non-condensing) Modem: 56K baud internal modem (for dial-up console access) LAN Interface: 10/100 BaseT Polling Ports: 24 user-selectable ports Polling Interfaces: RS-232, RS422/485, 202 modem, 33.6K modem, FSK modem, PSK modem T/Access COM Port: 1 Processor: 2.4 GHz Intel Pentium 4 Hard Drive: 40GB (7200 RPM) Slots: 6 PCI, 1 AGP Fans: 2 internal Removable Storage: 1.44 floppy disk drive, CD drive Visual Display: Front-panel LCD, svga monitor connection available Unit Controls: 4 LCD menu control buttons Hardware Warranty: Ethernet Port 2 years Swappable Port Interface Cartridges Fuse Alarm Relays Dual Power Feeds with GMT Fuses