When defining the functions of NMS and EMS,
it is often referred to as FCAPS. FCAPS stands for Fault, Configuration,
Account, Performance, and Security. The functions of a normal management system
are all included in this category. Let's take a look at each function.
Fault Management
Fault means unavailable status. When talking
about a fault, it is usually referred to as an alarm. Fault and alarm are not
specifically distinguished, but to be strict, fault can be considered to mean a
phenomenon in which a fault occurred in the system, and faults are classified into hardware and software. Alarm defines in detail about a fault that has occurred and informs the operator
when a fault occurs.
According to the definition of the standard
document, Alarm usually has Severity, Probable Cause, Category, and
additionally includes location information. A brief look at each definition is
as follows.
Severity: Severity is defined as Critical
Major, Minor, Warning, Indeterminate, and Clear.
Category: Classified into Processing,
Communication, QoS, Environmental, and Equipment.
Location: It is used to specify the
location where the alarm has occurred, such as device, process, and card slot.
Probable Cause: It is usually defined as
the name of the alarm that the operator can recognize.
Additional information such as
occurrence time is defined and notified to the operator.
Account Management
It is a management function for information
related to billing. Since most operators operate separate billing servers, it
can be seen that there are no functions to be supported by NMS and EMS, but billing-related settings are also managed by configuration items.
Configuration
Defines information about the parameters for the devices. Information to be managed is classified into the properties of
Read-Only and Read-Write. In the case of NMS, Read-Only information is mainly
handled, and the EMS manages both Read-Only and Read-Write information. SW management
functions such as Firmware Downloading are also defined separately, but they are included in the Configuration Management Category strictly.
Performance
It is a function that manages performance
indicators. Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is a term that appears when talking
about performance, but you can think of it as a performance item. Examples of
performance indicators include traffic-related information such as throughput,
the success of various messages, and the fail count. Performance is always
mentioned in conjunction with Statistics, where periodic collection, storage,
and processed information can be considered statistics. Showing real-time or recent
information is shown as a feature in Performance and long-term information is
shown as statistics. When performance is defined, additional TCA(Threshold Cross Alarm)s may be
required together. TCA is a function that shows an alarm to an operator when a
particular performance indicator falls short of a certain requirement.
Security
In the past, the security function meant
simple functions such as security in communication with NE, operator account
management, and operator authority management, but recently, as
security-related requirements increase, it has become a comprehensive concept
that includes various functions. However, the functions required for the
management system are still limited to encryption through SSL for Management
Protocol, account management, and server security functions. Other major
security functions are separate functions and are not required by the
management system itself.
FCAPS as defined in standard document
There are X.7xx and G.xxx documents
released in the 1990s, but look at the 3GPP 32.xxx documents that have been
standardized until recently, and if necessary, look at documents such as RFC
4741 where NETCONF is defined.
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