What Is Network Management? Components, Trends, and Best Practices

Minimizes costly network disruptions

Networks keep businesses running today. If networks fail, work stops. Modern network management keeps everything connected and secure. It watches routers and switches, fixes problems fast, sets up new equipment, and blocks threats. Good management matters more as networks get more complex.

Let’s look at the key parts of network management and new trends.

Core Components of Network Management

Network management has four main areas that work together.

Fault Management

Networks sometimes fail. Fault management finds and fixes problems when they happen. It includes:

• Systems that spot issues
• Alerts for network managers
• Tools that find where failures start
• Steps to get things working again

Good fault management doesn’t just react – it predicts problems before they cause downtime.

When networks go down, businesses lose money. A good fault management system pays for itself by reducing these costly outages. The best systems can spot patterns that predict failures. For example, if a router starts running hotter than normal, the system can alert managers before it fails completely.

Fault management tools often include dashboards that show network health at a glance. These visual tools help managers quickly identify problem areas. Many tools can also automatically create trouble tickets when they detect issues, speeding up the repair process.

Configuration Management

Every device has its own settings. Configuration management tracks these settings and changes them carefully.

This matters more as networks grow. New devices must work with existing ones. Good configuration keeps everything consistent and prevents problems.

Configuration changes are a common cause of network problems. A good configuration management system keeps a history of all changes. If something goes wrong, managers can quickly see what changed and when. This makes it much easier to fix problems.

Configuration management also includes backing up device settings regularly. If a device fails, these backups make it much faster to get a replacement up and running. Some systems can even automatically restore settings to a new device.

Performance Management

Users want fast, reliable connections. Performance management makes the network run efficiently by:

• Watching bandwidth to find slowdowns
• Analyzing traffic patterns
• Prioritizing important applications
• Planning for future growth

Collecting and analyzing data helps managers make smart decisions about improvements.

Performance management tools create reports and charts that show network usage over time. These help identify peak usage times and plan accordingly. They also show trends that might indicate the need for upgrades before problems occur.

User experience monitoring is an important part of performance management. This focuses on how users actually experience the network, not just technical metrics. It measures things like application response times and call quality for voice over IP.

Security Management

Security threats keep changing, making security management critical. This includes:

• Controlling who uses the network
• Finding weak spots
• Spotting suspicious activity
• Responding to security breaches

Security must balance protection with ease of use. Too many restrictions frustrate users, but weak security leaves networks open to attacks.

Modern security management uses a layered approach. No single security measure is perfect, but multiple layers make it much harder for attackers to succeed. These layers might include firewalls, intrusion detection systems, anti-malware tools, and user authentication.

Regular security audits are essential. These comprehensive reviews look for weaknesses in the network’s defenses. Many organizations bring in outside experts for these audits to get an unbiased view of their security.

Employee training is often overlooked but is crucial for security. Many breaches start with phishing emails or weak passwords. Regular training helps employees recognize threats and follow good security practices.

Key Tools and Protocols

Several technologies help manage networks effectively.

Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)

SNMP has been used for decades. It collects data from network devices and sends commands to them. It works through agents (software on devices) and managers (systems that collect data).

SNMP remains useful because almost every network device supports it.

SNMP has gone through several versions, with SNMPv3 being the most secure. Earlier versions had significant security weaknesses. Organizations should use SNMPv3 whenever possible, especially for devices accessible from outside their network.

Despite its age, SNMP continues to evolve. Newer versions support more types of data and improved security. Many modern management platforms build on SNMP rather than replacing it completely.

Streaming Telemetry

While SNMP checks devices periodically, streaming telemetry sends real-time data constantly. This offers:

• Less network traffic than constant checking
• Faster problem detection
• More detailed data
• Better handling of large networks

Many companies use both SNMP and streaming telemetry together.

Streaming telemetry is especially valuable for large networks with thousands of devices. Traditional polling methods might take minutes or even hours to check every device. With streaming telemetry, managers get updates in seconds or milliseconds.

Cloud networks benefit greatly from streaming telemetry. Cloud environments change rapidly, making real-time monitoring essential. Major cloud providers build streaming telemetry into their platforms to help customers monitor their resources.

Cisco Catalyst Center

Formerly Cisco DNA Center, this platform offers a central dashboard for network management. It combines:

• Automation to simplify tasks
• Features to monitor performance and security
• Tools that provide insights
• Integration with other systems

It represents the trend toward platforms that combine many functions in one place.

The Catalyst Center uses intent-based networking principles. Rather than configuring individual devices, administrators define policies about what the network should do. The system then configures devices automatically to meet these goals.

This approach makes managing complex networks much simpler. It reduces the chance of errors and makes it easier to maintain consistency across the network. The system can also verify that the network is actually behaving as intended.

Modern Approaches

Traditional management focuses on individual devices. Modern approaches view the network as one system.

Network Automation

Manual setup takes time and risks errors. Automation uses software to perform routine tasks, providing:

• Faster configuration
• Consistency across devices
• Fewer errors
• Better documentation

Many businesses start with simple automation and gradually do more.

Network automation tools often use standard protocols like NETCONF and YANG. These provide a consistent way to configure devices from different vendors. This makes it easier to automate mixed environments.

Python has become the most popular language for network automation. Its simple syntax and powerful libraries make it ideal for writing network scripts. Many vendors now provide Python libraries specifically for working with their equipment.

Software-Defined Networking (SDN)

Traditional networks tightly link hardware and software. SDN separates them, letting managers control the network from one place.

This makes networks more flexible. Instead of changing each device one by one, managers can set rules for the whole network at once. SDN helps businesses that need to adapt quickly.

SDN controllers serve as the brains of the network. They maintain a complete view of the network and make decisions about how traffic should flow. The physical devices simply follow instructions from the controller.

This centralized approach makes it much easier to implement complex policies. For example, automatically routing traffic based on application type or user identity becomes much simpler with SDN.

Artificial Intelligence for IT Operations (AIOps)

Modern networks generate too much data for humans to analyze. AIOps uses AI and machine learning to:

• Find unusual patterns
• Determine what causes problems
• Predict failures before they happen
• Fix common issues automatically

AIOps helps human managers by handling routine analysis, freeing them for strategic decisions.

AIOps systems get smarter over time. As they analyze more data, they build better models of normal network behavior. This makes them better at spotting anomalies that might indicate problems.

Many AIOps tools integrate with ticketing systems and communication platforms. When they detect an issue, they can automatically create a ticket, notify the right people, and even suggest solutions based on similar past problems.

ITIL Framework

ITIL provides a standard approach to IT service management. It defines processes for:

• Restoring normal service after incidents
• Preventing recurring issues
• Controlling changes
• Maintaining performance standards

Organizations using ITIL typically see better service quality and alignment between IT and business goals.

ITIL has evolved over time, with the latest version (ITIL 4) emphasizing flexibility and integration with other approaches like DevOps and Agile. This makes it easier to adapt ITIL practices to different organizational needs.

Many organizations start with just a few ITIL processes rather than implementing the entire framework at once. Incident management and change management are common starting points that provide quick benefits.

Advanced Trends

Several new technologies are changing network management.

Network Topology Mapping

Networks constantly change as devices connect and disconnect. Topology mapping creates visual maps of these connections, helping managers understand:

• How devices connect to each other
• Where bottlenecks might form
• How data moves through the network
• How failures might affect other systems

Advanced tools update these maps in real time.

Modern topology tools do more than just show connections. They display performance data, alert status, and configuration information directly on the map. This gives managers a complete view of network health.

3D visualizations are becoming more common for complex networks. These make it easier to understand large networks with many interconnected devices and links. Some tools even support virtual reality interfaces for truly immersive network visualization.

Digital Twin for Networks

A digital twin creates a virtual copy of your physical network. This lets managers:

• Test changes before making them
• Practice recovering from failures
• Improve performance without affecting the real network
• Train staff safely

Digital twins are especially useful for critical networks where downtime must be avoided.

Creating an accurate digital twin requires detailed information about the network. Modern tools can automatically discover network devices and their connections to build the initial model. They then keep this model updated as the network changes.

Some digital twins integrate with AI tools to predict future network behavior. This helps with capacity planning and can identify potential problems before they occur.

Network Slicing

Not all network traffic needs the same level of service. Network slicing creates several virtual networks on one physical network, each designed for specific needs.

This works well with 5G, where some devices need little data while others need a lot. By giving each type of traffic what it needs, network slicing improves performance.

Healthcare organizations use network slicing to separate critical medical data from regular office traffic. This ensures that patient monitoring systems and telemedicine always have the bandwidth they need, even when the office network is busy.

Manufacturing companies use slicing to create dedicated networks for production equipment. These slices can have special security rules and guaranteed bandwidth to keep production running smoothly.

Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA)

Traditional security trusts devices inside the company network. Zero Trust takes a different approach: “Never trust, always verify.” This model:

• Requires everyone to prove their identity
• Limits access to only what each user needs
• Constantly watches for suspicious behavior
• Limits damage when breaches occur

As remote work increases, Zero Trust provides better security than traditional approaches.

Implementing Zero Trust is a journey, not a single project. Most organizations start with identity management, ensuring that user accounts are properly secured and that multi-factor authentication is in place.

Micro-segmentation is another key part of Zero Trust. This divides the network into small segments, each with its own security controls. Even if attackers breach one segment, they can’t easily move to others.

IPv6 Adoption

The Internet is running out of IPv4 addresses. IPv6 offers many more addresses, but requires careful management.

Most organizations run both IPv4 and IPv6 during transition. This adds complexity, requiring managers to monitor two systems. Good IPv6 management includes:

• Planning addresses carefully
• Setting up security for IPv6
• Monitoring performance across both systems
• Training staff on the differences

IPv6 offers more than just more addresses. It includes built-in security features and better support for mobile devices. Organizations that implement IPv6 well can gain significant advantages over those still limited to IPv4.

Many organizations use a “dual-stack” approach during transition, where devices support both IPv4 and IPv6. Others use translation technologies that allow IPv4-only devices to communicate with IPv6 networks. Each approach has advantages and challenges.

Conclusion

Network management is changing. Instead of just fixing problems, it now focuses on preventing issues and improving service. New tools that automate routine tasks free IT teams to focus on improvements.

Businesses that use modern approaches have more reliable, secure, and efficient networks. As networks become more important, good management gives companies an advantage.

Consider reviewing how you manage your network. Even small improvements can make a big difference.