SQL Server Magazine

HP OpenView Network Node Manager (NNM) 5.02 for Windows NT brings the full power of HP's flagship network-management tool for UNIX to NT, along with a new user interface. (For information about updates to the software, see "Network Node Manager 6.0," page 114.) NNM, a member of HP's OpenView family of systems and network-management products, maps and monitors your network's IP and IPX addressable components (e.g., computers, routers, and Simple Network Management Protocol—SNMP—switches and hubs). The software's drill-down displays have color-coded status icons and customizable event-notification thresholds; thus, you can monitor your network easily.

Installation and Configuration
Installing NNM is easy. However, you might want to review the preinstallation file before you begin the installation. This file covers basics such as configuring the NNM server properly and using the same IP name for the Domain Name System (DNS) and your NNM server's IP configuration.

If you want to view and control your NNM installation from a remote location, you can install the software on other workstations in a console-only configuration. To efficiently manage distributed networks from a central location in larger enterprises, you can use the NNM servers as data-collection and data-forwarding engines. You can also distribute responsibility for network management among several people and NNM consoles.

Automatic Discovery
When you initialize NNM, the software automatically locates your network topology and components unless you turn off this option during installation. During my test, I used a 3Com SuperStack II Switch 1000, with twenty-four 10Base-T Ethernet ports and one 100 Base-TX Ethernet port. Approximately 30 systems connect to this Ethernet switch. However, NNM's initial automatic discovery added only four items to the map: the 3Com Ethernet switch, the subnet's default gateway, the NNM server, and the NNM server's NT domain controller.

Tracking down the reason for NNM's failure to discover the other systems was enlightening. When NNM discovered the switch, it located two interfaces with assigned IP addresses: the unit's primary address and a default Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP) address assigned to the serial port and used for the switch's initial configuration. NNM used the network address with the lower number as the switch's primary address. However, this address was also the serial port address. NNM attempted (and failed) to perform automatic discovery and submit SNMP queries through this interface. After I removed the unnecessary address from the switch and deleted the switch's icon from the map, NNM rediscovered the switch at the proper IP address and successfully discovered the network's topology. Screen 1 shows the default map that NNM generated. Each of the segment icons in the map drills down to a submap of the systems on that segment.

NNM discovers network devices and topology by querying the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) cache of SNMP devices on its network segment. NNM uses an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) echo (ping) to verify device addresses before adding them to the map. NNM then issues an SNMP query to find out if the devices are SNMP-capable. If they are, SNMP asks what kind of devices they are. Currently, NNM doesn't provide an option to perform a ping sweep through its IP subnets during initial automatic discovery. However, this option is under consideration for a future release.

Key Functions
NNM has several key functions. NNM provides significant extensibility (via third-party plug-in modules). The software can also automatically locate network components, lay out network topology (users can customize it by changing background images), and store SNMP Management Information Base (MIB) data (e.g., trend analyses). NNM can also set thresholds for event notification, program other actions to occur when a preset threshold triggers an event, and monitor MIB elements. You can view stored MIB elements graphically. NNM has a feature similar to NT Performance Monitor's realtime graphic display: NNM lets you monitor, graph, and view numeric MIB elements in realtime. NNM can also monitor, collect, and load numeric MIB elements that the monitored system supports. When you run the SNMP service on an NT system, NNM recognizes the availability of NT services. You can access the following utilities from the Tools menu for an NT system highlighted on the current map: Event Viewer, Registry Editor, NT Diagnostics, Performance Monitor, Server Manager, and User Manager. You can also access Microsoft's Systems Management Server (SMS) Properties and run SMS, if SMS Administrator is installed on the system.

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