Table of Contents

Prerequisites

Cisco ASAP Solution References
PSTN Gateway Solutions References

Regularly Scheduled Tasks
General Operations and Maintenance Guidelines
As-Needed Tasks

Resource Management
Network Management
Management Tools

How to Use This Guide

Overview

This chapter provides an overview of the contents of this guide. Although the focus is on the general tasks required to manage and maintain the Cisco Any Service, Any Port (ASAP) Solution and the PSTN gateway solutions, much of what is available here is useful in a variety of other situations.

Note   PSTN gateway solutions include Cisco PSTN Gateway Solution and Cisco SS7 Interconnect for Voice Gateways Solution.

The means to achieve these tasks include not only Cisco proprietary element and network management tools with graphical user interfaces (GUIs), but also commands that can be issued from the command line interface (CLI).

This document addresses only those activities following the initial "first day" installation that you need to do to enable features, add or delete subscribers and resources, or conduct other ongoing activities. These are tasks you need to perform in order to maintain network services. It is assumed that all of the components of this solution have been correctly installed, configured, and provisioned, and that a basic solution network has been brought into service. (See Prerequisites, below.)

For an overview of the topics in each chapter, refer to Document Organization.

This chapter covers the following major topics:

Prerequisites

The information herein is useful in a variety of situations, but an attempt has been made to focus on the needs of the following solutions:

References for those solutions are provided below. Before proceeding, take the time to familiarize yourself with the requirements and applications of those solutions.

Cisco ASAP Solution References

In order to operate and maintain the Cisco ASAP Solution, make sure you have read the following documents:

These are available at the Cisco Any Service, Any Port Solution web site, at the following URL:

http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/access/solution/asap/index.htm

For an overview of solution-related network management tools and their function in the Cisco ASAP Solution, refer to Chapter 5 in the Cisco ASAP Solution Overview and Planning Guide. In addition to these tools, you can use the Cisco IOS CLI commands to install, configure, operate, monitor, and troubleshoot the Cisco ASAP Solution components.

PSTN Gateway Solutions References

Cisco SS7 Interconnect for Voice Gateways Solution References

In order to operate and maintain the Cisco SS7 Interconnect for Voice Gateways Solution, make sure you have read the following documents:

These are available at the Cisco SS7 Interconnect for Voice Gateways Solution web site, at the following URL:

http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/access/sc/rel9/soln/voip20/index.htm

Cisco PSTN Gateway Solution References

In order to operate and maintain the Cisco PSTN Gateway Solution, make sure you have read the following documents:

These are available at the Cisco PSTN Gateway Solution web site, at the following URLs:

http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/solution/dialvoic/pstngw/index.htm

Operations and Maintenance Tasks: At a Glance

We recommend that you perform these tasks on a rigorously scheduled basis and others as needed. You may want to schedule certain critical tasks in keeping with the needs of your network. This section presents the following topics:

Regularly Scheduled Tasks

Table 1-1 identifies the tasks that service providers must do daily, weekly, monthly, and annually to operate and maintain their Cisco Integrated Network Solutions network.

General Operations and Maintenance Guidelines

To maintain your solution network, follow these general best practices:

Table 1-2 lists general operations and maintenance guidelines (parameters to monitor) for a variety of Cisco applications, platforms, and network types. (Cisco AS5000 series access servers include both universal gateways and dial-only/voice-only gateways.)

Note   For syntax descriptions of these and other MML commands, refer to Chapter 2, "MML Commands," of the Cisco Media Gateway Controller Software MML Command Guide. Use the version of the book appropriate to the release of the Cisco MGC software running on your system. The documents for the releases are available at the following URLs: Release 7: http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/access/sc/rel7/r7mmlref/index.htm Release 9: http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/access/sc/rel9/mmlref/mmlovw.htm

For information about managing the MGC node, including daily tasks, periodic maintenance, and regular operations procedures, refer to Chapter 3, "Operating Procedures" of the Cisco MGC Software Release 7 Operations, Maintenance, and Troubleshooting Guide or the Cisco MGC Software Release 9 Operations, Maintenance, and Troubleshooting Guide.

MGC Software Release 7 applies to the Cisco ASAP Solution and Release 1.3 of the Cisco SS7 Interconnect for Voice Gateways Solution.

MGC Software Release 9 applies to Release 2.0 of the Cisco SS7 Interconnect for Voice Gateways Solution and the Cisco PSTN Gateway Solution.

As-Needed Tasks

Table 1-3 lists the operations and maintenance tasks that are generally done as needed (for example, adding new equipment to support new subscribers, or adding a new dial plan to accommodate a new geographical region). These tasks can also be done in accordance with a schedule depending on the needs of the network. Troubleshooting chapters specific to various applications are also listed. Tasks are sorted first by the components to which they apply. Some tools provide management capabilities but must be managed themselves. In addition, some tasks might be repeated, because they fall into multiple categories.

Tip Take the time to become familiar with the varieties of tasks and the tools that support them.

You can perform any of these tasks to establish, change, or discontinue service—either in response to customer demand or to optimize the performance of equipment or software configurations. The following legend lists the acronyms used for the tools in the table.

Because this document covers the breadth of applications for the Cisco Integrated Network Solutions, it is not expected that you have all of the applications that are discussed here, or that you need to manage all the components.

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Note    The network management applications that can be used to manage the Cisco SS7 Interconnect for Voice Gateways Solution are as follows: Cisco BAMS, CMNM, and Cisco VSPT.

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Note    The network management applications that can be used to manage the Cisco PSTN Gateway Solution are as follows: Cisco BAMS, CMGM, CMNM, CUGM, RPMS, and Cisco VSPT.

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Table 1-3, Part 1  

As-Needed Operations and Maintenance Tasks

Resource and Network Performance Management

This management category includes not only processing resources, but also performance across the network. This section presents the following topics:

Resource Management

When multiple applications are used in the same network, it is important to manage network resources. For example, the Cisco ASAP Solution provides the ability to enforce both network-wide service-level agreements (SLAs) and per-gateway application-overload protection. A universal gatway does not accept a call that violates a network-wide SLA, nor would it consume CPU resources that are in short supply at a given time. This resource management, coupled with hardware and software features, ensures that the availability of applications matches that of the network. For the Cisco ASAP Solution and Cisco PSTN Gateway Solution, Cisco RPMS is used for managing network resources. For information about how to use the Cisco RPMS to manage network resources, refer to "Managing Resources and Dial Services: Using Cisco RPMS."

Network Management

Aside from discovery and inventory management, network management largely implies performance management. The performance of a network can be measured by taking a measurement of response time, line utilization, throughput, and so on. A baseline can be established as a comparison for subsequent performance measurements. Performance levels can be measured to determine whether they are in line with the metrics defined in service-level agreements. This section discusses several aspects of performance management in general, to demonstrate how router performance measurements can be taken and viewed using SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol).

The tasks involved in performance management include the following:

For an in-depth discussion of resource and network management for the ASAP Solution, refer to the Cisco ASAP Solution Overview and Planning Guide at the following URL:

http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/access/solution/asap/index.htm

Management Tools

Figure 1-1 illustrates the relationship of typical Cisco resource and network management tools to the network components they manage. In the middle layer are, for the most part, element management tools, relying on SNMP for passing messages about the state of components of varying granularity. An exception is Cisco RPMS (Resource Pool Manager Server), which provides resource management to alleviate processing overload and alleviate congestion.

Note   This figure is for illustration only and is not intended to represent all solution architectures. Also, because this document covers the breadth of applications for both the Cisco ASAP Solution and the Cisco SS7 Interconnect for Voice Gateways Solution, it is not expected that you have all the applications that are discussed here, or that you need to manage all the components.

At the bottom are the managed components and their subcomponents. These include Cisco AS5000 series universal gateways (UGs), Cisco 3600 series and Cisco 7200 series H.323 gatekeepers, and the components of the Cisco SC2200 node (also referred to as a Media Gateway Controller [MGC] node). Components of a Cisco SC2200 node include the host platform on which the SS7 signaling software runs, the Cisco 2611 or 2651 Signaling Link Terminals (SLTs), and the Cisco Billing and Measurements Servers (BAMS). These are almost always paired for redundancy. In addition, Cisco Catalyst switches can be considered as being part of a Cisco SC2200 node, although these are not always necessary and can be found in other parts of the network.

Table 1-4 briefly summarizes these Cisco applications, their minimum versions, the components to which they apply, and the solutions they support. The applications are listed in the order in which their chapters appear in this guide. The Cisco ASAP Solution is indicated by ASAP, the Cisco SS7 Interconnect for Voice Gateways Solution is indicated by SS7VG, and the Cisco PSTN Gateway Solution is indicated by PSTNGW.

Note   CiscoView, not discussed explicitly in this guide, is a Web-based management tool that provides a graphical view of the Cisco devices at the chassis, card, and port level. It supports all major Cisco devices. UGM and CMNM launch CiscoView. CiscoView also provides management support for the Cisco 5500, and the Cisco SLT (Cisco 2611, Cisco 2651, Cisco AS5400). In addition, Cisco Generic Dial Plan Manager (GDPM) (not discussed explicitly in this guide) helps manage access GWs (Cisco AS5300, Cisco AS5350, Cisco AS5400, Cisco AS5800, and Cisco AS5850).

Note   For information about the applications and the components of the Cisco ASAP Solution, refer to the Cisco ASAP Solution Overview and Planning Guide at the following URL: http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/access/solution/asap/index.htm

Note   The foundation for managing the components of a Cisco SC2200 node is the Cisco Element Management Framework (CEMF). Cisco UGM and Cisco Info Center (CIC) also use CEMF. For information on the latest version, refer to Cisco Element Management Framework Release 3.2 at the following URL: http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/rtrmgmt/cemf/3_2/index.htm

Troubleshooting and Trouble Clearing Tasks: At a Glance

For general internetworking troubleshooting information refer to the Internetwork Troubleshooting Guide at the following URL:

http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/cisintwk/itg_v1/index.htm

In addition, the following chapters of this guide are dedicated to specific troubleshooting issues:

Posted: Wed Jan 22 01:49:45 PST 2003
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