why do hand-picked cherries... (2009)

Copyright © 2009 Alcatel-Lucent and Nakina Systems Inc. All Rights Reserved.| 1

Why do hand-picked cherries provide no guarantee for a tasty pie?



Facts on IMS Integration, Configuration & Deployment

Multiple vendorsand/or suppliers

Typically 20+ IMS network elements

Many thousands ofconfigured parameters

Distribution andgeo-redundancy


• A complex and distributed architecture that requires an end-to-end- solution approach

• Many thousands of configured parameters, all of which must be aligned for reliable service operation

• Deviations from standard configurations can result in performance problems andmajor service outages

• Majority of outages are due to manual misconfigurationand breakdown of processes


Need for IMS Configuration Management and Audit Tools

• Increased solution management costs and risks

• Delayed service launch due to poor end-to-end performance or compatibility issues

• Inability to isolate and resolve faults due to non-standard provisioning and configuration

• Sub-optimal performance in parts (or all) of the architecture

• Inability to complete audits and upgrades in maintenance windows

• Network expansion hampered by lack of real-time network baselining capabilities

Risks• Lifecycle management approach

• Mechanisms to discover settings in each device, compare to planning and update the network

• End-to-end automation and operations intelligence for improving decision making and reducing the number of manual touches

• Rapid configuration and para-meter discovery and auditing

• Control of maintenance procedure fora confident network expansion

What’s needed ?


Operate

Critical Components of IMS Solution Lifecycle Management

TestDesign

• Documented configurations

• Standardized processes

• Labs & engineers

• Methods & tools

• Multiple test-beds

• Multi-vendor coordination

• Configuration control

• Ongoing audit & remediation

• Documentation management

• Release planning and coordination

• Change control & release management

• Feedback for future releases

Change Management


Gambling with Your NetworkAnecdotes without Configuration Audits

• Operations staff typed an incorrect IP address to an out of region device causing a 10 hour outage

• 2 day outage was caused due to incorrect security settings on a device

• Security administrators adding accounts on a device forget to issue “commit” command eventually causing a reboot and loss of VoIP services in market

• A service provider received an update from their vendor. 3 way calling and call forwarding did not work for 2 weeks due to a misconfigured parameter

• Multiple week silent outage resulting in 100,000s of blocked calls due to misconfigured parameter settings

• Service provider receives an upgrade from their vendor, it takes 200 days to complete testing with bulk of checks involved in parameter checking


• Small scale test of technology deployment (IMS, VoIP, IPTV)

• Manageability through nodal interfaces acceptable

• Slight scope expansion from Lab deployment

• Small operations team accessing network

• Parameter churn manageable through manual methods

• Significant scope and team expansion.

• Parameter churn becomes unmanageable

• Definition of Gold standard parameter templating required

• Tracking and auditing of parameter changes mandatory requiring integrated security

• Presence of solution blanketing manager over solution network required

Expanding IMS, VoIP, IPTV DeploymentsCustomer expectations create challenges

NationalCityFOALab

How do you go beyond FOA to City/National Deployments?

City/National deployments needs much different than Lab Trial or FOA

• Must normalize configuration/parameter mgmt and security across different NE types

• Need to inventory NEs across the network before deploying a service

Software upgrades cannot be done one NE at a time

• Impractical or cost prohibitive to log onto each NE

Most EMSs designed to take you to FOA ― but not beyond …


Need for IMS Configuration Management and Audit Tools

• Complex, distributed architectures with thousands of individual parameters

• Majority of outages due to manual misconfigurations and breakdown of manual processes

• Inability to complete audits and upgrades in maintenance windows

• Network expansion hampered by lack of real-time network baselining capabilities

Challenges

• End to end automation and operations intelligence enables improved decision making by mechanizing network infrastructure changes in a controlled and secure environment

• Automation of customer method of procedures (MOPS) and reduction of manual touches

• Rapid parameter and configuration discovery and auditing

• Control of maintenance procedure providing confident network expansion

Solution Benefits

Complex architectures consisting of multiple elements with 1000s of parameters


Network Integrity ControlEnforce & compare NW parameters en-masse

• No mechanism to enforce parameter control or permit parameter baselining

• No visibility of global network settings and state

• Challenges in management of complex groups of elements within a given maintenance window

Service Provider Pain

Nakina Network Resource Optimizer

• Parameter Discovery

- Powerful, flexible mechanism to extract Configuration Parameters including inventory

• Comparison – Audit for Discrepancies

- Compares “Standardized templates” or Planning tool reports to live Network View –using specified Tolerance Criteria

- Displays and reports discrepancies

• Integrated Security Solution

- Profile-based protection of access to network information

- User activity logging

IntegrityControl

TemplatesIntegrityControl



Templates

Domain Control and Intelligence Modules

Base Communications, Transaction Engine & Security Layer

Workflow Engine

Virtualized Nodal Management Services

Planning Systems


Conclusion

•Next generation architectures for VoIP, IPTV, IMS consist of many inter-related elements each with thousands of parameters

• Stare and compare doesn’t work and is time-consuming and error prone

•“Gold standard” or “Baseline template” approach to parameter setting allows automation audits and eliminates “stare and compare”

•Outages due to misconfigurations eliminated

•Audits and upgrades can now be performed in maintenance windows

•Complex architectures more manageable allowing for large scale deployments to proceed


Thank You!

Marc Jadoul Market Communications Director

Network & System Integration Division

Alcatel-Lucent

Office: +32 3 240 9087

Mobile: +32 477 50 00 99

[email protected]

Sergio Pellizzari

Solutions Architect

Nakina Systems

Office: +1 613 254 7351 x222

Mobile: +1 613 794 1501

[email protected]

Image sources:

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why do hand-picked cherries... (2009)

Technology