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Centralized Network Management Tools

Feb 24, 2015

Photo_Teldat_colibriservice_webThe new generation of centralized management tools for wireless networks has arrived. We analyze Teldat´s Colibri
platform.

Humanity spends a huge percentage of its time searching for models. We search for models of the atmosphere to anticipate weather conditions, we search for models of human behavior to determine voting intentions or to predict market trends. We even search for models in the shape of share charts to setup the pricing for buying or selling stocks, but …Can the world be modelled?

Obviously it is not possible to answer that question in a categorical manner. Although almost all aspects of nature and some man-made systems are so complex that makes it very difficult to believe that every significant detail can be reflected on a model, it is unquestionable that models and categorization help us to move quickly and safer in very different scenarios.

One area that I would like to explore a little further in this post is the management of communication networks and in particular of wireless networks.

Are the new centralized network management tools based on models?

In many cases they are. Communication services provided by a CPE are modeled and according to this classification a given configuration is applied to the device. The agility to deploy new sites is determined by the number of customized parameters to be setup on a new device.

To a certain extent and although this is only my opinion, the trend topic of SDN is based on simplify enough the CPE functions, so that hardware, software and configuration remain reduced to a minimum and hence make it easier to fit into a more or less ‘general’ model.

In the recent years, management solutions for wireless networks have evolved from deployments in which each access point had to be configured individually investing a lot of time to accurately set each parameter, to deployments where once the access point have been classified into a given group, based on its function within the operating environment, the number of parameters to be customized for the device tries to be reduced to a minimum.

The clear advantage of this approach is that it accelerates the deployments and allows the network operator to respond to the increasingly challenging demands of immediate availability of services by customers.
However, for this to have become feasible, Access Points have increased in complexity and functions, to be able to react and autonomously adjust some of its operating parameters, technologies associated with Roaming, Load balancing between Access Points, Channel frequency management, Band steering or Airtime fairness are what have made possible that the operating parameters of a group of access points can be modeled.

Teldat Wifi Management Tools

‘Platform Colibri’ is the umbrella term which we use to refer to the next generation of tools for Network Management that incorporates, in its latest version, modules for configuring and monitoring the access points of the wireless network.

The main characteristics are:

  • It enables many features including the deployment of new access points with zero touch configuration
  • Configuration of the deployed access points by groups
  • Allows to monitor the access points and users connected, including specific security system information parameters.

Moreover, the Colibri Platform is available as a Cloud Service or as a ‘Virtual Appliance’ for those customers who wish to install it in their data centers.

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