An ever-growing amount of network resources and solutions applied in it make an efficient management of network recourses more and more difficult. Every telecommunications carrier needs access to the information about its network equipment configuration, equipment parameters, status and connections established between the equipment parts. This knowledge being dispersed between the sub-network management systems designed by hardware manufacturers or the management systems for sub-network elements as well as other data carriers such as databases, files, paper documentation, the operator may have difficulties compiling cross-section data quickly. This sometimes prevents the operator from seeing its network resources as a whole.

Suntech’s solution allows to keep a record of the operator’s equipment with any required accuracy, and displays the equipment’s physical and logical details. Among the system modules are tools which allow to extend the existing description of the equipment without involving the software supplier.

The network inventory system enables to store information about the connections already established and the ones to be established in the backbone and access networks. It is fitted with some built-in mechanisms allowing to de-compose the network into layers, hierarchy levels, zones and sub-networks. It also allows to store information about the connections established in the sub-networks, regardless of their topology.

A model Z Architecture used for the sake of describing the connections allows to describe uniformly any connection established in the backbone network, such as infrastructure, cable and radio connections, WDM, SDH, PDH, ATM, leased and signaling connections and telecommunications traffic routes, as well as describe the inter-layer relations between these connections. This allows to analyze network resources from the angle of its reliability (checking if the resources of the given kind are disjoint), as well as to support the operator’s detecting potential damage sources.

The reporting mechanisms provided along with the system enable to make advanced reports, while specialist mechanisms for data import from different sources and the possibility of designing interfaces with other management systems allow to keep as up-to-the-minute data about the carrier’s network as possible.

More information: network_inventory.pdf (310 KB)