Hewlett-Packard Ltd is to expand its HP OpenView multi-vendor network management family by adding some new element-management application software and a management system based on its HP-UX Unix machines; the new products are intended to form part of Hewlett’s TCP/IP, and ultimately Open Systems Interconnection, network management strategy. The Network Node Manager software will offer a range of TCP/IP network management features, including: fault management, with diagnostic tools to isolate and resolve system failure; configuration management, which is based on a node discovery facility that generates and updates the network map and gives a multiple-view graphical representation of the network; and performance management, which polls multi-vendor TCP/IP elements at intervals defined by the user, and returns information in either text or graphic form. The OpenView Network Management Server is described as an object-oriented development environment for integrating network management information; it is designed to reside on any HP9000 machine from the 68030-based Series 300s to the Precision Architecture RISC-based 800s. The server uses the OpenView Windows presentation system which includes network topology maps using application programming interfaces to allow developers to create dynamic and static network maps. The OpenView Data Management Services provide a common location for network elements and their attributes that, according to Hewlett-Packard, eliminates the need to gather and store this information in user-developed applications; element failures can be collected and forwarded to network management applications so that information on these failures can be obtained from a single location. Network access to the server is provided through the SNMP Simple Network Management Protocol and CMOT Common Management Information Protocol over TCP/IP. Both server and software will be backed up by a customisation programme, and network management training and support through customer response centres in the US, Asia and Europe. Scheduled to be available in the UK by mid-1990, the OpenView Network Management Server is listed at UKP22,500, with end user software coming in at $4,500 – this package would include a single user developer’s and single end user licence. The OpenView Network Node Manager software for the HP9000 machines is scheduled to be available at the same time, costing UKP13,500.
