Out-of-Band Management

Out-of-Band Management Featured Article

Out of Band Management Capabilities Allow for Business as Usual

By Susan J. Campbell TMCnet Contributing Editor

Businesses in operation today rely on the optimized performance of the network to ensure the completion of mission critical processes. The data center and IP networks are at the center of this optimization, yet in-house staff is no longer enough to meet the day-to-day maintenance requirements, especially when multiple sites are involved. A strategy for intelligent remote control demands out of band management.

Opengear (News - Alert), as featured on this page, offers a full line of out of band management solutions, as well as in-band remote management. After all, some problems originate within the operating network of the primary location. In-band management allows for the monitor and management of the infrastructure with clear insight into the system and network performance.

What happens, however, when the problem occurs outside of the primary network or devices cannot be readily available? Traditional in-band tools will monitor the distributed network and supported services, but are unable to detect problems in services or devices that aren’t readily available. At that point, a professional must be dispatched to the physical location to determine the problem.

This is where out of band management lends value. Network outages that occur for remote sites demand remote access, available only through out of band management solutions. With Opengear console servers, an always-on redundant network connection can be established, or an automatic failover can be put in place to protect operations when primary connectivity is lost. This approach provides an alternative path to the remote site and device operating at that site if the primary network is unavailable.

Out of band management also provides that alternate path to the CPU or host operating system to gain control when the device in question is not functioning. Service connectivity is standard with modern servers and networking devices and available in serial console or service processor interfaces. Such interfaces are designed to provide an alternative path for identifying the problem and supplying the solution, allowing critical access when the interface is not properly functioning.

Outages are bound to happen as too many things out of the control of the IT administrator affect overall performance of the network and supported devices. With out of band management solutions in place, however, outages do not have to hinder access or productivity. Serial console management and network console management allow for access, monitoring and control over a dedicated TTY serial console port or Ethernet IP network port, respectively.

Opengear service processes allow for browser and IPMI access to dedicated internal processors; access behind the firewall ensures managers that need direct remote access to their managed devices have it regardless of installation location; the cellubar OoB connection allow for the support of internal and external cellular modems; and automated management takes advantage of Opengear smart infrastructure to anticipate issues for proactive support.

As companies continue to grow and support multiple locations in broadening markets, the need for out of band management solutions will only expand, providing the necessary access to ensure business can continue as usual.

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