Blueprint: The “Flattening Effect” and Network Intelligence

by Terence Martin and Andy Huckridge

How To Stay Ahead of the Growing Trend for “Anywhere, Anytime” Data

The
immense growth of IP-based data traffic and applications on mobile devices is
pushing the adoption of 4G technologies and fueling the migration to faster data
rates. Service providers busy with migration strategies are upgrading existing
networks as stop-gap measures to allow an all-IP based services platform.
Carriers and handset vendors are differentiating their offerings by rolling out
application portals while providing improved monetization and ARPU. User
mobility is pushing the trend for “anywhere, anytime” data technology, while
applications are driving the subscriber need.

Continuous advancement in technology powers much of the above,
including additional overall data traffic and the migration to mobile
connectivity/broadband. Applications are becoming pervasive, with the subscriber
in control of the what, where and how. To continue to drive down costs,
operators are moving to an all-IP core, attempting to reduce network complexity
and in some cases altogether outsourcing the management of their networks.

With so much change happening in the network, the migration
itself doesn’t occur over night. In the near future, network operators need to
combine next generation systems and devices with a supportable hybrid network
that interconnects various types of existing platforms. Because the network has
simultaneously become both flatter and more complex, the journey toward a
converged all-IP network comes with an entirely new set of network performance
and management philosophies to be adopted and developed by IT organizations. To
drive the need for maintaining and managing the experience of the subscriber,
real-time monitoring, troubleshooting and provisioning of the network must be
implemented strategically and methodically. Real-time monitoring of network
traffic has proven to be crucial to diagnosing and analyzing network performance
and services, and consequently the subscriber’s quality of experience (QoE).  

Out With the Old, In With the New – Problems Associated With
Legacy Monitoring Schemes

Fragmented monitoring approaches increase problems associated
with performance and complexity. Several of these problems have emerged with the
growing complexity of data on the network and the accumulation of outdated
network monitoring components. Due to the constant push for more efficient
connectivity, traditional network monitoring approaches are inadequate for
managing network components on enterprise and service provider infrastructures.

The aforementioned traditional approach improves the visibility
of network performance by placing a series of tools into the network, but while
the system solves some problems, new issues arise. IT managers are faced with
the inability to access a particular point in a network with multiple tools,
creating a “blind spot” on the network that can cause inefficient and difficult
to solve troubleshooting transactions. Blind spots frequently occur with the
type of overhead management utilized in legacy monitoring schemes.  Different
sets of tools from different vendors dispersed throughout the network in various
locations, each with individual management software inoperable with other
vendors, can be a recipe for disaster. As network IT managers have limited
accessibility to certain points on the network, they must manage an overflow of
data. Monitoring costs are becoming increasingly more expensive as network
management is becoming more inefficient. With rising costs and reduced ROI,
profit is impacted by the lack of fast and efficient troubleshooting. The
fragmented approach to network monitoring causes additional performance and
complexity problems.
The “Flattening” Effect:  A Pathway for Network Intelligence
Optimization to Save Time and Money
Telecom, enterprise and government network operators must develop
a holistic and future minded strategy for network monitoring and network
management. They must also keep in mind the key aspects of a traffic capture
solution, such as the price-performance, diversity, agility and intelligent
capabilities. Depending on future requirements, network operators should keep in
mind existing macro trends when deciding network monitoring needs, such as
“Flattening the Network”, technology development and economics.
The continuous growth of IP will accelerate the pace at which
legacy systems are displaced by an all-IP network. The “flattening” effect will
create more distributed IP components and broader ranges of IP services rolling
out in the network, leading to more potential points of failure and increased
complexity of the network. This opens opportunities for additional points of
monitoring, in which the monitoring infrastructure should be “flat” and flexible
across all parts of the network.The Network Intelligence Optimization framework is paving a path
for a smart network-monitoring infrastructure. To sustain the increase in speed,
the traffic capture layer must continue at line rate in hardware, where a deeper
awareness of packets and applications, as well as more dynamic handling is
essential.

Today, network managers must do more with less, delivering
tighter budget control while improving service delivery. Conversely, the network
monitoring optimization framework allows organizations to migrate from a high
initial CAPEX business model to a lower and variable CAPEX model in the
network-monitoring component of the budget. With less, the network managers can
do more in other areas such as network forensics, lawful intercepts, behavioral
analysis, centralizing applications for compliance, etc. Managed service
providers (MSP) have also become mainstream and are focusing on monetization of
QoS/QoE, rather than solely on monitoring network elements and packets. The
layered-approach to network monitoring is fundamental and crucial to enabling
business model differentiation in such network environments.

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