Белая книга для Cisco Cisco Prime Assurance Manager 1.1

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©2012 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. | www.enterprisemanagement.com
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Closing The Loop for Effective Network Operations Management:  
Cisco Prime Assurance Manager 
•  Application visibility: The network exists to serve a purpose, and 
for the vast majority of  organizations that purpose is the delivery 
of  applications or application-based services. The network 
viewpoint, in fact, provides a unique and powerful perspective on 
exactly what applications are being delivered and at what levels of  
quality and performance. But to gain that insight, it is necessary to 
bring together application-aware metrics and monitoring data and 
put that information into context with the network itself. Cisco 
Prime Assurance Manager addresses these needs by leveraging the 
many application-oriented instrumentation options within Cisco 
networking solutions, including the Cisco Prime NAM as well as 
IOS features such as NetFlow, NBAR, Performance Agent, AVC, and Medianet. Configuration of  
these advanced data sources is facilitated and automated within Cisco Prime Assurance Manager, 
which then collects, normalizes, and correlates resulting ongoing measurements and metrics. The 
resulting multi-dimensional data set is made available for direct, top-down monitoring and analysis 
or for context sensitive insights driven by analysis and troubleshooting flows that start from the 
bottom up. 
•  End-user visibility: While the network exists primarily to deliver applications, those who benefit 
from those applications are the end users of  IT services. Again, since the network is the key to 
delivery, the network viewpoint can provide essential insights into end user experiences, and serves 
particularly well as the first point of  triage when the root cause of  user-reported performance 
issues is not immediately apparent. Here, Cisco Prime Assurance Manager again adds value, by 
making identification of  an end user’s location simple, and then offering facilitated options for 
identifying the path of  application delivery and allowing investigative analysis of  each hop (and 
device) along the way. This is further complemented with ability to watch key performance metrics 
that reflect end-user experience, such as response time and VoIP/video quality, and to set proactive 
threshold notifications when those metrics stray from acceptable ranges.
As with all other Cisco Prime for Enterprise products, one other major value is present throughout the 
system. Wherever an operator happens to be working within Prime Assurance Manager, and whatever 
may be the current focus of  analysis, Cisco Prime products feature a help function that links directly 
to Cisco’s extensive and expansive best-practices knowledge base. This puts expert knowledge for 
managing and optimizing Cisco networks just a few clicks away, delivering the right insights, in the right 
context, at the right time.
EMA Perspective
Over the years, EMA has regularly documented the need for more effective, integrated network 
management solutions that can span multiple functional areas. In fact, research released in early 2012 
indicates  that  most  practitioners  prefer  fully  unified,  tightly  integrated  tools,  when  such  solutions 
are available. Cisco has embraced these needs by transforming its lineup of  network and device 
management tools into consistent, connected, efficient enablers which can move network operators 
towards being able to truly assure networks, for both reliable availability and reliable performance – not 
just stand them up and then fight the inevitable fires that come along.
Prime Assurance Manager 
leverages the many 
application-oriented 
instrumentation options 
within Cisco Networking 
Solutions to provide 
application-aware 
operations visibility.