Researching Network Management Software for a small Health Institution

Researching Network Management Software for a small Health Institution

A small private health institution is housed in a 10 floor building. The IT department is responsible for delivering networking services to a mixture of users: management, staff and guests and is bracing for 50% rise per year in network traffic/services over next two years. Internet access for guests is limited to web only. All patient records and data are protected as confidential under the national legislation. A team of experts hired by senior management are of the view that a Network Management Software (NMS), when installed, can help meet the needs of this growing setup. You are heading this group of experts.

Part-a:The objective here is toeducate your management team on the virtues of Active and Passive Network Management.So as a prelude to your research report, define the terms Active Network Management, Passive Network Management and explain in simple words the difference between these and under what circumstances each is suited for? Give a list of FIVE tools/commands used in Passive Network Management and describe what each tool/command does- if possible include a sample output from each tool/command in your report.

Part-b:You are head of a small Task Force recently set up to research into the features of following FOUR products with a view to qualify suitable product(s) for the institution:

1- Solarwinds (www.solarwinds.com)

3- Airwave by (www.arubanetworks.com )

4- Open NMS by (www.opennms.org )

5- Nagios NMSby (www.nagios.org )

Write, and submit up to a maximum of 15-pages, (12 point font, space and a half) exclusive of any screen prints, giving atechnical comparison of these products. You may include screen prints of firm's web pages in support of your findings. This brief will help IT staff understand the potential and features of these products. Use the following headings as guidance. Marks will be equally spread between all headings.

While researching the above software packages address the following:

• Whether the packages under study support: SNMP, RMON1 or RMON2 probe and have capability for managing wireless devices?