What are the four functional areas of network management?

The four functional areas of network management, derived from the five listed, are performance management, fault management, configuration management, and accounting management. Security, although a key aspect, is usually seen as a distinct domain instead of a core network management functional area.

Understanding the Functional Areas

Here's a breakdown of these four critical areas:

Functional Area	Description	Key Activities
Performance Management	Focuses on monitoring and optimizing the network's operational efficiency and ensuring it meets the required service levels.	Measuring throughput and latency. Identifying performance bottlenecks. Reporting on network utilization. Ensuring quality of service (QoS).
Fault Management	Deals with detecting, isolating, and correcting network issues to minimize service disruptions and maintain uptime.	Monitoring network devices for failures. Receiving alerts when problems arise. Diagnosing the root cause of issues. Restoring services quickly.
Configuration Management	Involves controlling the network's hardware and software configurations, ensuring that devices are properly set up and operating as expected.	Managing device configurations. Tracking hardware inventory. Updating software on devices. Ensuring consistent configuration across the network.
Accounting Management	Tracks network resource usage, including traffic, bandwidth, and device utilization, for planning, billing, and optimization purposes.	Collecting data on network traffic. Allocating costs based on usage. Monitoring resource utilization patterns. Planning network capacity expansion.

Importance of Each Area

• Performance: Ensures smooth, fast, and reliable operations. For example, if a website is slow, it would require investigating performance issues within the network infrastructure.
• Fault: Prevents downtime and ensures quick restoration of services in the event of a failure. Consider a router outage: prompt fault management is essential to identify and resolve the issue.
• Configuration: Maintains consistency and security across the network. Incorrect configurations can lead to significant problems, so good management here prevents mistakes.
• Accounting: Enables cost allocation and capacity planning. Understanding who and what consumes bandwidth, for instance, enables billing and helps in predicting future infrastructure needs.

Relationship to Security

Security, while not one of the main four functional areas, is still vital to network management. It often overlaps with the other four areas to ensure that the network is protected against threats. For instance:

• Performance: Security measures might impact performance, so there is a need to balance the two.
• Fault: Security incidents can trigger fault management processes.
• Configuration: Securing configurations of network devices is crucial for overall security.
• Accounting: Knowing who is using the network allows for detection of anomalies.

In conclusion, while the reference lists performance, fault, configuration, accounting, and security, the core functional areas traditionally focused on are the first four: performance, fault, configuration, and accounting management. Security is a vital consideration but is usually treated as a related but separate domain.