IT Baseline Protection Manual - The Information Warfare Site

Networked Systems
_________________________________________________________________________________________
6.8 Network and System
Management
Description
A management system for a local computer network is
normally used to control all the hardware and software
components located in the local network. Such systems should
support the system administrators as much as possible in their
daily work. There is a basic distinction between network
management and system management. The differences are due
to the components that are controlled.
Network management includes all the precautions and activities for securing the effective use of a
network. For example, this includes checking that the network components are functioning correctly,
monitoring the network performance and centrally configuring of the network components. Network
management is primarily an organisational problem which can only be supported by technical means,
a network management system.
System management is primarily concerned with the management of distributed IT systems. This
includes, for example, the central administration of the users, the distribution of software, the
management of the applications, etc. In several areas, such as configuration management (the
monitoring and consolidation of configurations of a system or a network component), it is impossible
to clearly distinguish between network management and system management.
In the following, the (software) system used to manage a network and its components is always
referred to as "management system". The components that it manages are called "managed system".
These terms are used particularly in the area of network management.
A network and system management framework is defined in ISO/IEC standard 7498-4 and in X.700 of
ITU-T. The tasks of a management systems are:
1. configuration management,
2. performance management,
3. error management
4. invoice management
5. security management.
A specific system management product does not only have to offer support in each of these areas. The
suppliers usually offer ranges of products designed in such a way that special functionalities can be
obtained as a module or an associated individual product.
Network management is the older and more mature management discipline. In comparison, system
management is a relatively new discipline, but is requested more and more due to the rapidlyincreasing
networking in enterprises and authorities and the resulting increase in heterogeneity and
complexity. The goal here must be to integrate the two disciplines. The management products
available at the moment are designed in such a way that they can primarily be used either for network
management or for system management. Products which combine the two functionalities are still
under development. As a rule, products that are designed for system management also allow access to
information concerning network management.
Due to the heterogeneity of the hardware and software of current networks, system management is an
extremely complex task. System management is made even more difficult through the fact that
management software and the software to be managed have to work together. As a rule, the software
_________________________________________________________________________________________
IT-Baseline Protection Manual: Otober 2000