What exactly is the “network manager” that communications people talk about every day?

When it comes to "network administrator", many people will think of Internet cafes. In Internet cafes, the person who is responsible for maintaining computers is called a "network administrator".

Internet cafe's "network administrator"

Some people may also think of the system administrator in the company, that is, the person who will come out to save the day whenever there is a problem with your computer or network. They are sometimes also called "network administrators."

In the communications industry, "network management " is a common term that communications professionals use almost every day. So, does the "network management" in the communications industry have the same meaning as the "network management " mentioned above ?

of course not!

The "network administrator" in the communications industry and the "network administrator" in Internet cafes or enterprises are completely different things.

"Network management" in communications, although the full name is also called "network management", in fact, it specifically refers to the software, hardware and platform (mainly software) used to manage equipment in the communication network .

The "network management engineer" in communications generally refers to the R&D and testing engineers who develop network management software and hardware.

Engineers who actually use network management software to debug and maintain equipment are called technical support engineers or operation and maintenance engineers.

Network management engineer is the most misunderstood position in the communications industry .

When the company's HR lady goes to recruit, she is most afraid of hiring a "network management engineer". Every time, she has to spend a long time explaining to the other party that this network management is not the network management who does odd jobs, pulls network cables, and installs systems.

Colleagues who work as network administrators are even more miserable. Every time friends and relatives ask, "What do you mainly do?" If you directly answer, "Network administrator," the atmosphere instantly freezes, and the scene is so awkward that you can't breathe.

Later, colleagues simply gave up the term "network administrator" and directly answered "software development engineer".

Next, let’s talk about the specific knowledge of network management.

Network management was born very early. When electronic switches appeared in the 1960s and 1970s, network management also appeared simultaneously.

What exactly does a network administrator manage?

Simply put, the main functions of the network management system include five major areas: configuration management, fault management, performance management, security management, and account management.

To put it simply, it is to configure device data, modify parameters, check alarms, check performance indicators, and so on.

To put it more simply, the network management system is the interface between you and the device. If you want to control the device, you can't do without the network management system.

In the past decade or so, network management has changed a lot.

In the past, many network management systems were installed on special client devices and connected to communication equipment through proprietary cables.

Later, proprietary client devices were gradually replaced by ordinary PCs, and proprietary cables were gradually replaced by ordinary TCP/IP Ethernet. One-to-one became one-to-many (one server, N clients).

The software platform for network management is also gradually changing.

In the past, many devices were in GUI (Graphical User Interface) mode, which required finding a desktop computer, installing special client software, starting the software, logging in, and opening the network management software interface.

GUI interface

Nowadays, the WEB mode is more popular. Any desktop computer, as long as it is connected to the network and the server, can open the network management interface through a WEB browser, just like logging into a website.

Network management based on C/S architecture ( Client/Server) is increasingly evolving towards B/S architecture (Browser/ Server ).

It is worth mentioning that there is another mode of network management, called MML , which is what we in the communications industry jokingly call “take your time” (the initial consonants of the three words).

MML is actually a command line mode, just like DOS and LINUX, you type commands and then interact with the device. This is more suitable for batch import scripts.

There are several common words for network management, namely EMS, NMS, and UNMS.

EMS is not the EMS for express delivery, but Element Management System, network element management system.

Not this EMS

EMS generally only manages local network elements. Nowadays, NMS, Network Management System, is more common.

In fact, it is easy to understand. In the past, only a single network element was managed. Later, network management software became more and more powerful and turned into a platform that can access and manage many network elements, thus becoming an NMS (network management system).

UNMS is the Unified Network Management System (Unified NMS), also known as the integrated network management system.

To put it simply, UNMS uses an operating interface and network management system to achieve comprehensive management of N different types of equipment, which means it can kill all.

There are two more common concepts in network management, namely northbound and southbound .

As the saying goes, "north is up, south is down, west is left, east is right", north, south, east and west are actually widely used in network topology: north is the upper level; south is the lower level; east and west are the same level (regardless of east or west).

The so-called northbound interface is the interface open to the upper level, and the southbound interface is the interface open to the lower level.

There are also layers of management in the network management platform. The national-level (group-level) network management platform is followed by the provincial-level (provincial company) network management platform, and below that is the municipal-level network management platform. And so on.

Well, I believe everyone has figured out what a "network administrator" is. I hope this article can help clear the name of "network administrator" and I also hope that network administrator colleagues can clear their names as soon as possible.

thank you all!