network element

8/8/2019 Network Element

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Network elementA network element is usually defined as a manageable logical entity uniting one or more

physical devices. This allows distributed devices to be managed in a unified way using onemanagement system. According to Telecommunications Act of 1996, the term `network

element' means a facility or equipment used in the provision of a telecommunications service.

Such term also includes features, functions, and capabilities that are provided by means of such

facility or equipment, including subscriber numbers, databases, signaling systems, and

information sufficient for billing and collection or used in the transmission, routing, or other

provision of a telecommunications service[1].

Background

With development of distributed networks, network management had become a pain in the neck

for administration staff. It was hard to manage each device separately even if they were of the

same vendor. Configuration overhead as well as misconfiguration possibility were quite high.

A provisioning processfor a basic service required complex configurations of numerous

devices. It was also hard to store all network devices and connections in a plain list. Network

structuring approach was a natural solution.

[edit]Examples of Network Elements

With structuring and grouping, it is very well seen that in any distributed network there are

devices performing one complex function. At that, those devices can be placed in different

locations. AtelephoneHYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_exchange"

exchangeis the most typical example of such a distributed group of devices. It typically contains

subscriber line units, line trunk units, switching matrix, CPU and remote hubs. A

basictelephoneHYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_service" serviceleans on

all those units, so it is convenient for an engineer to manage a telephone exchangeas onecomplex entity encompassing all those units inside.

Another good example of a network element is a computer cluster. A cluster can occupy a lot of

space and may not fit one datacenter. For enterprise solutions, it is common to locate cluster

nodes in different locations, even in different regions (settlements).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_Act_of_1996http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provisioninghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provisioninghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Network_element&action=edit&section=2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_exchangehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_exchangehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_exchangehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_exchangehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_exchangehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_exchangehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_exchangehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_exchangehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_exchangehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_clusterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datacenterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provisioninghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Network_element&action=edit&section=2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_exchangehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_exchangehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_exchangehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_clusterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datacenterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_Act_of_1996


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[edit]State Models for Network Elements (NEs)

A Network Element state model facilitates cross domain network management and promotes a

multi-vendor environment. The standard definitions and mappings allow Operations Systems to

gather state information from NEs and integrate it into a consistent representation of the status

of the entire managed network and each of the services that it supports.

Telcordia GR-1093,HYPERLINK "http://telecom-info.telcordia.com/site-cgi/ido/docs.cgi?

ID=SEARCH&DOCUMENT=GR-1093&"HYPERLINK "http://telecom-info.telcordia.com/site-

cgi/ido/docs.cgi?ID=SEARCH&DOCUMENT=GR-1093&"Generic State Requirements for

Network Elements (NEs),discusses the two primary state models in industry. One is the

Telcordia State Model, which consolidates the state models previously described in several

Telcordia documents. By consolidating the models, changes and expansions to the models can

be presented and can evolve in a coordinated fashion. Also, inconsistencies and redundancy

may be averted. The other model is the International Standards Organization (ISO) State Model,

which is defined in International Telecommunications Union - Telecommunication (ITU-T) Rec.

X.731.

The state of an entity represents the current condition of availability of the underlying resource

or service in the NE from the point of view of management. In the context of the Telcordia State

Model, the term entity represents an entry in a TL1 administrative view (i.e., represents the

resource or service generally identified by the Access Identifier [AID] parameter). In the context

of the ISO State Model, the term entity means managed object.

Different types of entities (such as hardware, transport facilities, and subscriber service) have a

variety of state characteristics that express the availability of their underlying resources that are

specific to each entity type. However, a state model is expected to be common to a large

number of types of entities. It expresses key aspects of their availability at any given time. The

purpose of the state model is to indicate the availability of an entity in providing its functions

and, if an entity is not available, to indicate the cause of the unavailability and what kind of

activity may be taken by the manager (e.g., the OS or the craft) to make the entity available.

In a specific application, only a subset of the state model may be needed. The rationale of such

restrictions is not described in GR-1093. The technology or application-specific requirements

document should be consulted for this information.
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The standard definitions and mappings allow Operations Systems to gather state information

from NEs and integrate it into a consistent representation of the status of the entire managed

network and each of the services that it supports.

To help ensure interoperability, particularly for an OS that interfaces with multiple NEs using one

of the two state models, a mapping between the models may be needed. GR-1093 provides a

mapping for the two models and also defines the extension to the OSI state/status attributes

that is necessary to meet the telecommunications needs of the service providers.

[edit]Telecommunications Management Network

Main article: Telecommunications Management Network

A concept of the network element as a distributed entity is widely used in TMN model which in

turn is used as a standard for developing Element Management Systems.
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Network_element&action=edit&section=4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_Management_Networkhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=TMN_model&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Element_Management_Systemshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Network_element&action=edit&section=4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_Management_Networkhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=TMN_model&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Element_Management_Systems

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