IT Baseline Protection Manual - The Information Warfare Site

Safeguard Catalogue - Organisation Remarks
____________________________________________________________________ .........................................
S 2.145 Requirements for a network management tool
Initiation responsibility: Head of IT Section, IT Security Management
Implementation responsibility: Administrators
The use of a network management tool helps achieve effective network
management. A large number of network management products are
commercially available at present; all these products need to be checked for
compatibility with individual requirements before a decision can be made to
procure a particular tool. Here, it is particularly important to fulfil the security
requirements stipulated in S 2.143 Development of a network management
concept and observe the following items:
- The tool must support the selected network management protocol (refer to
S 2.144 Selection of a suitable network management protocol)
- The product must be scaleable, i.e. it should be capable of adaptation to
future requirements.
- It must support all the network components present in the local network.
- It must support all the network protocols used in the network.
- It should have a modular design, in order to easily allow a later integration
of additional functions into the existing network management system.
- It should have a graphical user interface, to provide a clear and
comprehensible display of relevant information.
- If system management products are also used, it should be possible to
combine them with the network management tool under the same user
interface, to achieve a "single point of administration".
In addition to these requirements which need to be examined in general, the
functional requirements for a network management system must also be
defined. The following criteria provide an overview of the possibilities offered
by presently available products; however, not all functions are incorporated
into all products. Before a product is selected, it is therefore necessary to
determine the functions which will be required:
- Topological representation of the network (e.g. including the possibility of
integrating background diagrams such as construction plans etc.)
- A choice of topological representations
- Topographic representation of the network (e.g. including the possibility of
integrating background diagrams such as construction plans etc.)
- Automatic recognition and representation of network topology and
segmentation (auto discovery)
- Indication of the configuration of the active network components on the
port level
- Indication of performance on the port level
- Graphic visualisation of the active network components
- Interactive tool for the management protocol (e.g. MIB browser)
____________________________________________________________________ .........................................
IT-Baseline Protection Manual: Oktober 2000