Integrate non-SNMP Devices with SNMP Telecom Network Management
TMon Telecom Network Management System
Most telecom network managers today are trying to escape proprietary, one-vendor monitoring solutions, which explains the drive to standardize on SNMP. But simply having an SNMP manager won't end your troubles — if your network is typical, you probably have a ton of non-SNMP equipment in the field.
Quick Summary Review Pros: Mediates an amazing number of input protocols to SNMP, including proprietary legacy gear Get more info on the TMon Telecom Network Management System DPS Telecom network management systems - www.dpstele.com |
The TMon Telecom Network Management System offers a solution to supporting non-SNMP devices in SNMP telecom monitoring. TMon is really a general telecom network management master, but when fitted with the appropriate optional software, it becomes a SNMP proxy agent for multiple sites. TMon can take non-SNMP alarms from all your remote sites, mediate them to SNMP traps, and forward the traps to your SNMP manager.
TMon supports the many non-SNMP protocols that are in use: TABS, TBOS, E2A — not to mention the vast collection of proprietary-protocol remote alarm monitoring equipment that pervades most networks.
(For an excellent guide to telecom network management protocols and how to make them work together, check out www.remote-monitoring-advisory.com.)
What devices does TMon support?
The most impressive thing about TMon is the number of input protocols it can mediate: ASCII, E2A, SNMP, TABS, TBOS, TL1 and Modbus, which covers most of the equipment out there.
TMon also supports proprietary protocols from other companies: Larse, Badger, NEC, and Pulsecom, plus a few others.
Caution: support for all these protocols isn't part of the base TMon package. You have to buy additional software modules for each protocol. On the plus side, TMon modules support any device that uses the protocol. If you need to support three different kinds of TL1 device, you just buy one TL1 module instead of three separate device-specific modules.
If you need support for a device that isn't their list, DPS offers custom development of protocol support modules. I'm generally suspicious of custom development — most companies will charge you an arm and a leg for their trial-and-error experiments. But DPS offers a couple of safeguards: they don't charge NRE fees for custom work, and they offer a money-back guarantee on their product if it doesn't work.
Physical unit, installation and configuration
The TMon unit itself is a rack-mount device, available in dual-power –48 volt (standard for most telecom monitoring environments) or commercial power versions. Besides Ethernet, it supports a plethora of legacy ports for attaching serial and modem devices.
How you install a TMon depends on your ego. If you're really comfortable with legacy connectors and alarm telemetry databasing, you might want to do it yourself. DPS offers an installation and configuration service combined with a four-day on-site training course, and I recommend the full service if you want to get the most from the system.
The
TMon rear panel features up to 24 serial and modem ports for connecting
legacy devices. (All images courtesy of DPS Telecom.)
TMon doesn't replace your SNMP manager
TMon won't replace your SNMP manager. DPS is careful to call their SNMP monitoring system an “SNMP Trap Processor,” and says TMon is strictly for telecom network management. TMon doesn't support in-depth SNMP device management, and integrating billing and inventory are outside the scope of its objectives.
But those are minor quibbles. Achieving what DPS has — orchestrating SNMP support across so many protocols and platforms — is no small accomplishment. If you need to work with multiple protocols, TMon is definitely worth a look.
TMon supports practically every device and protocol in your network, and can convert them all to SNMP traps (or TL1).
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all alarms are created equal
The real genius of TMon is what it does with the alarms it collects. Once they're in the system, all alarms are treated the same, which means you can collect alarms from any piece of supported equipment and forward them as traps to your SNMP manager. You don't have to worry about MIB hunting or adapting legacy equipment — if it's supported by TMon, you can integrate it with your telecom network management.
Incidentally, you can use TMon's alarm forwarding features for more than SNMP. TMon supports almost as many output protocols as inputs, mediating alarms to ASCII, E2A, SNMP, TABS, TBOS, and TL1.
You can also forward alarm output to multiple targets, so if necessary, you could be monitoring a large network of diverse devices with TMon, and forwarding all the alarms to several SNMP managers, a TL1-based OSS center, and an ASCII recorder all at once.
If you have a TMon, do you really need an SNMP manager?
TMon works great for forwarding SNMP traps, but if you work with it for a few days, you start to wonder why you couldn't just monitor all your network alarms with TMon.
TMon can receive SNMP traps as well as forward them, so it can monitor your SNMP equipment as capably as everything else.
TMon also has some cool features for telecom network management that are much better than the bare-bones telemetry functions of a standard SNMP manager. TMon filters nuisance alarms, keeps standing alarm and COS alarm lists, sends out pager and email notifications, and even gives system operators little text instructions for correcting alarms.
Most of all, there's something really reassuring about having one system that can cover your whole network. If all your sites report green on the TMon display, you can be pretty certain that there's no secret problems anywhere in the network. That's good peace of mind.
Get more info on the TMon telecom network management system