Palo Alto-based Hewlett-Packard Co has launched Release 2.0 of its HP OpenView Network Node Manager systems and network-management software for HP-UX and Sun Sparcstation workstations, claiming that it reduces from days to minutes the time it takes to manage multi-vendor TCP/IP networks on a site or campus, and suggesting that it thereby reduces costs and improves network up-time. Features of OpenView Network Node Manager Release 2.0 include Discovery, designed automatically to discover, map and continuously monitor all network and system resources across a site or campus TCP/IP network. It discovers and maps the entire network in minutes – a task that could take hours or days and would be subject to error if it were done manually, the company says. It tracks devices regardless of the hardware vendor and updates the network map if there is a change in status of a device. Single View Management enables user-developed or third-party applications to be integrated with OpenView in just a few minutes, enabling network managers to monitor the entire network at a glance and invoke other necessary applications via the OpenView interface on a single station, eliminating the need for a variety of stations dedicated to specific hardware vendors’ equipment and facilitating network management. Dynamic Data Collection and User-defined Thresholds are designed to provide users with the information needed for network planning and trouble-shooting. Users can gather historical network data for any numerical management information base element on any Simple Network Management Protocol device. Users also can define event thresholds for any numerical base element. And Application Builder is conceived so that users or developers can easily create applications to manage SNMP network devices – and the company claims it to be an industry first. HP OpenView Network Node Manager Release 2.0 lists for $15,000 from this month.
