A revealing look into
life within a Network Operations Center
Network operations
centers, commonly known as NOCs, are increasing in number, largely due to the
growth of the service provider sector. Application Service Providers (ASP) -
companies that provide paid applications on the Internet - and Network Service
Providers (NSP) - companies that offer paid network management services - are
the two main groups that create NOC Network faster than they can't find IT, professionals. Make them
work.
For good reason, the NOC
is often seen as the heart of ASP and NSP, as well as ISPs and
telecommunications companies. However, few people know what's really going on
inside a NOC, not to mention the type of IT professionals who are facing the
challenge of working in one. In this article, we will take a look inside a
network operations center and see what types of NOC workstations they offer.
An overview of NOC
operations
For the benefit of those
unfamiliar with the daily functions of a typical network operations center,
let's start with an overview of my business, the real-time IT support center.
The Real-Time IT Support Center is an NSP that provides real-time paid network
services to small and medium-sized businesses.
As with practically all
NSPs, Realtime has a NOC. Real-time NOC relies heavily on advanced management
and reporting tools to provide a watchful eye 24/7 to the networks of their
many customers. The overall success or failure of the network operations
center, however, does not depend on sophisticated hardware or software, but on
the IT professionals who manage it. Realtime NOC is managed by Doug Beamer,
head of the network operations center and a team of network professionals. Doug
and his team both have years of experience and have various certifications from
Microsoft and Cisco.
Doug's responsibility as
head of the real-time network operations center is to define and document the
processes and procedures that follow his engineering teams. Daily activities
involve everything from data backup management to monitoring critical frame
relay circuits. His team solves or aggravates network problems in accordance
with Doug's service level agreements and documented procedures.
There are many days in
real-time NOC for everything to go well and the team keeps an eye on the
networks. So there are a few more difficult days, like when a
telecommunications operator accidentally left a frame circuit or a critical
messaging server decided to call it stops for the same day. It's only 9:00.
Like most NOCs, the
real-time IT support center network operations center does not know the term
"opening hours" and must operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365
days a year. Doug and his engineering team should always have a pager and
cellphone with them. Like most computer workstations, they get little praise
when systems work as they should, but they become the center of attention when
things go wrong. The work is demanding, but the NOC must work properly for
Realtime to satisfy existing customers and bring new ones.
Computer stations in a
NOC
Many service companies
actively seek qualified IT professionals to fill positions in their network
operations centers. Companies that employ individuals to work within their NOCs
are interested in IT professionals who have experience in supporting network
infrastructure for a large organization and who have experience with a variety
of network management tools.
These companies are
looking for IT professionals for different types of positions. Network
operators are required to manage daily operations that are always important and
to provide proactive monitoring of all network systems. Companies wishing to
manage a NOC are also looking for network engineers to solve problems and
provide technical support on a variety of network problems. Overall, they are
looking for network engineers with an emphasis on network management. These
engineers can also develop and implement site-specific disaster and security
recovery procedures based on corporate standards.
Another crucial position
is that of the NOC manager, like Doug in Real-Time. The NOC manager is
responsible for the daily management of the NOC's operations. Develop and
maintain staff schedules and prioritize NOC tasks. This person must understand
the NOCs and be able to plan, build and maintain them. The most successful NOC
managers worked as office support, server administration and network
engineering. This type of IT professionals will have a global vision of
corporate networks and will be able to use and develop network management
tools.
The skills listed above
are generally considered "general skills". Network operations centers
often draw up detailed lists of technical skills or "technical
skills", although it is almost impossible to find IT professionals who
have them all. However, to name a few, IT professionals who want to work within
an NOC needs to know IP routing, Ethernet switching, TCP / IP, routing and
switching, system administration and the best Convenience for business. common
such as backup, virus protection, and network security.
The recent growth of the
service provider sector and the consequent proliferation of network operations
centers have created new demand for qualified network professionals. Now that
you've looked into a NOC and know what kind of IT professionals these service providers are looking for, you can decide whether working for a NOC is right
for you.
