Network Node Manager

HP announced a major update to its OpenView Network Node Manager (NNM) for Windows NT. The update will include the following improvements: fully integrated Event Correlation Services (ECS), a Java-based Web user interface, reporting and Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) integration, and additional fault tolerance.

ECS
One problem often creates numerous events, which complicates your effort to pinpoint the cause. ECS analyzes and correlates these events, displaying the root cause and providing drill-down access to secondary events. NNM ships with preconfigured event-correlation logics; you can add custom logics. ECS recognizes multiple occurrences of an event and aggregates them. ECS can also recognize and suppress events that scheduled maintenance activities cause.

Java-based Web User Interface
A major benefit of the Web's evolution is that you can now use applications and access data without installing application-specific software on your computer. Because NNM has a Java-based user interface, you have secure access to key parts of the software from any Java 1.1-compliant browser.

The Java interface includes the Launcher, the SNMP Data Presenter, the Alarms Browser, and the Network Presenter. The Launcher supports logon authentication and provides a system menu. The Launcher also defines user roles, so systems managers can limit functions that users have access to. The SNMP Data Presenter supports MIB browsing and customized reports and can query multiple hosts simultaneously. The Network Presenter presents your network topology in graphical or tabular form, sorts the tabular presentation, and launches other network-management and systems-management utilities. The Alarms Browser provides drill-down access to events that ECS organizes.

Reporting, ODBC Integration, and Fault Tolerance
HP has made major improvements in NNM's reporting and ODBC interpretation abilities. NNM 5.0 stored collected data in proprietary file formats, so you could access data directly only through the facilities the software provided. NNM 6.0 lets you store network topology information, event information, and SNMP data in any ODBC-compliant database. Thus, you can add tables, build custom applications that use NNM-maintained data, and use the query tools of your choice. In NNM 6.0, continuous collection of MIB data is more certain because an NNM management station, upon detecting the failure of another NNM server, can take over that server's collection responsibility.