“NETWORK DISCOVERY AND FAULT DETECTION”

A PROJECT REPORT

Submitted by

Suhrud Thakkar (090420107021)

Chintan Choksi (090420107052)

Bijon Desai (090420107010)

Bhavin Shah (090420107062)

In fulfillment for the award of the degree

Of

BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING

In

COMPUTER ENGINEERING

Sarvajanik College of Engineering and Technology,

Surat.

Gujarat Technological University, Ahmedabad.

May, 2013

SARVAJANIK COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

Dr. R.K.DESAI MARG, ATHWALINES,

SURAT-395001

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER ENGINEERING

CERTIFICATE

Date : 21 / 05 / 2013

This is to certify that the project entitled Network Discovery and Fault

Detection has been carried out by Suhrud Thakkar (090420107021),

Chintan Choksi (090420107052), Bijon Desai (090420107010), Bhavin

Shah (090420107062), students of B.E.IV (CO), Semester-VIII, under my

guidance in fulfillment of the degree of Bachelor of Engineering in Computer

Engineering of Gujarat Technological University, Ahmedabad for the

academic year May-2013.

Signature of

Guide

-------------------------------------

Signature of

Head of the Department

-------------------------------------

(Prof. Keyur Rana)

Signature of Jury Members

------------------------------- , -------------------------------- , --------------------------------

I

Acknowledgement

Any person without practical knowledge is incomplete. He is just like “Diamond without

Polish”. To bring the spark out of the diamond it is necessary to polish it properly. Likewise to

make a Person perfect technically, it becomes necessary to polish him.

We would like to take this opportunity to bestow are acknowledgements to all the people who

have directly or indirectly been involved with us in making our project feasible and to run it up

into a successful piece of work.

We take a rather special privilege of thanking Mr. Alpesh Tank of SSM Infotech Pvt. Ltd.

who guided us throughout the project.

We also forward our special thanks to Prof. Vaikhari Deodhar for making this project a

success.

Finally, we thank to our entire friend and other people who were continuous source of inspiration

throughout the project development.

Thanking you,

Suhrud Thakkar

Chintan Choksi

Bijon Desai

Bhavin Shah

II

Abstract

In commercial industries data networks are deployed on a very large scale. The manual

management of these networks is not at all feasible. To tackle this issue, the network

management software (NMS) comes into the picture. These types of software have efficiently

managed a large-scale network and handle the problems that regularly arise in such networks.

However, the current NMS are too complex to be understood and configured by an operator level

person. Moreover, in these industries, specifically in automation industries, the data is displayed

on a SCADA screen which is present in the control room. But, the network management

software represents the error-data in SNMP protocol which the SCADA screen is not able to

interpret. Hence, the industries need to deploy an additional converter to convert data from

SNMP protocol to OPC protocol data.

Our Network Discovery and Fault Detection (NDFD) software represents the network-devices

and their characteristics in a simplistic way and is also easy to configure and operate.

Also, our network management software will include the facility of SNMP to OPC conversion so

that the industries will not need to deploy an additional converter in order to convert and display

the data on the SCADA screen.

III

LIST OF TABLES

Table No. Table Description Page No. Table 1 Comparison of NMS 6 Table 2 SNMP Trap Packets 11

IV

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure No. Figure Description Page No. Figure 1 NMS Topology 2 Figure 2 Summary of faults detected by current NMS 5 Figure 3 Computer Network Map 8 Figure 4 OPC Alert Format 11 Figure 5 Level 0 DFD 18 Figure 6 Level 1 DFD 18 Figure 7 Level 2 DFD 19 Figure 8 Level 3 DFD 19 Figure 9 Use case Diagram 20 Figure 10 Activity Diagram 21 Figure 11 Sequence Diagram 22 Figure 12 SNMP API 26 Figure 13 Main Page 28 Figure 14 Device Discovery 28 Figure 15 List of devices in the network 29 Figure 16 List of properties for device “Computer2” 29 Figure 17 Fault Detection 30

V

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgement I

Abstract II

List of Tables III

List of Figures IV

Chapter 1 Introduction 1

1.1 introduction to Network Management 1

1.2 Introduction to Network Management System (NMS) 1

1.3 Flaws in NMS 5

1.4 What is NDFD? 7

Chapter 2 Literature Survey 13

Chapter 3 Design and Analysis 15

3.1. Database <ndfd>

3.2. Data Flow Diagram

3.3. Use case Diagram

3.4. Activity diagram

3.5. Sequence Diagram

15

18

20

21

22

Chapter 4 Technologies Used 23

4.1 Software 23

4.2 WebNMS.NET SNMP API 25

4.3 Language 26

Chapter 5 Result Analysis 27

Chapter 6 Conclusion 30

Chapter 7 Future Enhancements 31

References 32

VI

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1. Introduction to Network Management: - Refers to the activities, methods,

procedures, and tools that pertain to the operation, administration, maintenance, and

provisioning of networked systems.

Operation deals with keeping the network (and the services that the network

provides) up and running smoothly. It includes monitoring the network to spot

problems as soon as possible, ideally before users are affected.

Administration deals with keeping track of resources in the network and how they

are assigned. It includes all the "housekeeping" that is necessary to keep the network

under control.

Maintenance is concerned with performing repairs and upgrades—for example,

when equipment must be replaced, when a router needs a patch for an operating

system image, when a new switch is added to a network. Maintenance also involves

corrective and preventive measures to make the managed network run "better", such

as adjusting device configuration parameters.

Provisioning is concerned with configuring resources in the network to support a

given service. For example, this might include setting up the network so that a new

customer can receive voice service.

1.2. Introduction to Network Management System (NMS): - Commercial

industries deploy their local area networks on a very large scale. Hence, monitoring the

devices connected in the local area network, manually, becomes infeasible. To tackle

this issue, the Network Management System (NMS) comes into picture. Now the

question arises what does NMS mean? So, NMS i.e. Network Management System is

combination of hardware and software used to monitor and administer a computer

network deployed on a large scale. It is responsible for monitoring, alerting and

reporting for the global network infrastructure. To understand what NMS is, network

management needs to be understood thoroughly. Network management is a service that

employs a variety of tools, applications and devices to assist human network managers

in monitoring and maintaining nodes. In simpler terms, network management means

monitoring the activities carried out in a network using some protocols or tools.

So basically, an NMS manages the network elements also known as managed devices.

Device management includes faults, configuration, accounting, performance and

security management. Management tasks include discovering network inventory,

monitoring device health and status, providing alerts to conditions that impact system

performance, and identification of problems, their source(s) and possible solutions.

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NMS is really about network management. Network management is a discipline of its

own; it is a concept that employs use of various tools, techniques and systems to aid

human beings in managing system, devices or networks. There are five models of

network management, FCAPS. These conceptual areas were created by International

Organization of Standardization (ISO) to aid in understanding the major functions of

NMS.

These five functional areas are:

1. Fault Management: - Detect, isolate and notify the faults encountered in the

network.

2. Configuration Management: - Configuration aspects of the network devices such as

configuration file management, inventory management, software management.

3. Accounting management: - Usage information of network resources.

4. Performance Management: - Monitors and measures various aspects of performance

so that overall performance can be maintained at an acceptable level.

5. Security Management: - Provides access to network devices and corporate

resources to authorized individuals. Figure below shows NMS topology.

Fig 1 NMS topology

1.1.1.Fault Management: - The main aim of fault management is to detect, log and

notify about the faults occurring in the network. Because faults can cause

downtime and unacceptable network degradation, fault management is the

most widely implemented network management element.

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1. Network Management Platform: - The network manager platform deployed in

the network, manages the infrastructure consisting the network elements. The

platform receives the events from the network elements. The commonly

available functions in the standard management platform are:

Network Discovery

Topology management of network elements

Event handler

Performance Data Collector

Management Data Browser

The network management platform can be considered as one the major

console for detecting faults in the network infrastructure, because detecting

faults quickly in a network is very critical in corporate industries. The

network operational personnel can rely on the graphical display of the

operational states of the crucial network elements like devices, routers,

switches, etc.

Network management platforms such HP OpenView, Computer Associates

Unicenter, and SUN Solstice can perform a discovery of network devices.

Each network device is represented by a graphical element on the

management platform's console. Different colors on the graphical elements

represent the current operational status of network devices. Network devices

can be configured to send notifications, called SNMP traps, to network

management platforms. Upon receiving the notifications, the graphical

element representing the network device changes to a different color

depending on the severity of the notification received. The notification,

usually called an event, is placed in a log file. It is particularly important that

the most current Management Information Base (MIB) files be loaded on the

SNMP platform to ensure that the various alerts from network elements are

interpreted correctly.

2. Fault Detection and Notification: - The purpose of fault management is to

detect, isolate and notify the faults encountered in the network elements.

Network elements are capable of alerting the main or management stations

whenever fault occurs in their system through alerts.

Fault detection module is completed when the network devices send SNMP

trap messages when faults occur, SNMP polling, remote monitoring (RMON)

and syslog messages in the log file. A management system alerts the end

user when a fault is reported and corrective actions can be taken.

The error messages generated by SNMP version 1 (SNMPv1) are:

1) noError(0)- request was executed successfully.

2) tooBig(1)- request to response was too big to fit into one response.

3) noSuchName(2)- agent was unable to find the OID.

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4) badValue(3)- read-write or write-only object was set to an

inconsistent value.

5) genErr(4)- if an error occurs which does not satisfy any of the

messages occur, genErr() is generated.

Fault detection and monitoring of the network devices can be expanded from

the device level to the protocol and interface level. For a network

environment, fault monitoring can include Virtual Local Area Network

(VLAN), asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), fault indications on physical

interfaces, and so forth. Protocol-level fault management implementation is

available using an element management system such as the CiscoWorks2000

Campus Manager. The TrafficDirector application in Campus Manager

focuses on switch management utilizing mini-RMON support on Catalyst

switches.

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1.3. Flaws in NMS: - Not every system is 100% complete. Every system has some flaws

in it. Here we discuss some of the flaws in current NMS system.

1.3.1.Complex Structure: - The current Network Management System (NMS) are too

complex to be understood and configured by an operator level person. The

currents NMSs like CiscoWorks2000, SUN Solstice, HP OpenView, etc. are very

complex. The graphical displays of these NMS are too obtuse to be interpreted by

a layman. They can be read and understood by a senior employee but for an

inexperienced trainee, it becomes a tough task. Sample of faults by current NMS

is shown below.

Fig 2 Summary of faults detected by current NMS

The figure above shows a list of faults detected by NMS of well-known software.

In corporate industries, like certain MNCs, persons of operator level are appointed

to continuously monitor the large scale network and notify the senior authorities if

any faults occur in the network elements. As we can see, the figure shown above

is quite complex. Hence it is very difficult for a layman to interpret this screen

and get knowledge about the faults that have occurred in the network. Thus

Network Discovery and Fault Detection (NDFD) software comes into picture. In

NDFD, the Graphic User Interface (GUI) used to represent the faults is very

simple and lucid.

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1.3.2.High Cost: - There are many NMSs available in the market but they are not open

source. They cost thousands of dollars for installation and maintenance

henceforth. The table below shows a comparison of different proprietary NMS.

Table 1: Comparison of NMS

As seen from the above table, the licensed versions of NMS are very costly. Also

the company needs to bear additional costs for the regular maintenance of these

software systems.

1.3.3.SNMP to OPC Conversion: - In the commercial industries (mostly automation

industries), the data is viewed on a Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition

(SCADA) screen. But the NMS generates data in SNMP format which cannot be

interpreted by the SCADA screen. SCADA screen can only interpret data which

is OPC protocol format. Hence an additional converter needs to be installed which

converts SNMP packets into OPC format, which can then be displayed by the

SCADA screen.

Product Name Version Company Business Size License Price

Orion Network

Performance Monitor

10.3 SolarWinds, Inc. Small to

Medium(1-500)

Proprietary $2475

ManageEngineOpManager 9.2 Zoho Corporation Small to

Medium(1-500)

Proprietary $1995

Whatsup Gold v15 Ipswitch, Inc. Small to

Medium(1-500)

Proprietary $4995

Spicework 8.6 Spiceworks, Inc. Small to

Medium(1-500)

Proprietary $495/yr

Lansweeper 4.0.2.68 Hemoco BVBA Small to

Medium(1-500)

Proprietary $1495

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1.4. What is NDFD? The Network Discovery and Fault Detection (NDFD) software will

do the job of discovering the devices on the network, continuously monitoring them for

fault detection and generate an alert whenever any fault occurs in any of the network

devices. It will also convert the error-data which are received in the form of SNMP

packets to OPC format, so that the errors could be displayed on the SCADA screen.

NDFD will discover and represent the network-devices and their characteristics in a

simplistic way. It would also be easy to configure various properties of the devices

using NDFD. The NDFD would allow the user to monitor the network 24x7 in order to

check for faults and errors in the network system. The NDFD system would allow both

active and passive fault detection. Also, the NDFD software will include the facility of

SNMP to OPC conversion so that the industries will not need to deploy an additional

converter (OPC Server) in order to convert and display the data on the SCADA screen.

The NDFD software is divided into the following modules:

1. Network Mapper:

As the name suggests, the main work of network mapper is simply to map the

network i.e. it finds out any and every device that is connected to a particular

network.

It searches along the length and breadth of the network and finds out all the

different types of connected devices like switches, routers and hubs among others

and enumerates these devices in a list form.

This module even offers customized search. It can search the network only within

the IP range specified by the user and find out the connected devices whose IP-

addresses are within that specified IP range.

Additionally, it also provides pictorial (graphical) view of the entire network

which helps in simplifying the understanding of the network. Using graphical

view of the network, the entire network-map could be represented in a more

simplified way which helps in clear and easy understanding of it.

This module is only for the ADMINISTRATOR.

List & Description of sub-modules:

1 Device discovery: This module takes care of finding the devices available in the

network. It takes parameters from administrator to decide the searching criteria

& finds out the devices from network.

Parameters are: 1) IP Address Range (Admin Defined)

2)Community String (Generated while enabling SNMP in

devices)

2 Device Listing: It lists the found devices and basic characteristics to identify

them on network.

Characteristics/Parameters/Properties:

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Example

Parameters of Windows PC:

1) Device Name: Name of Device

2) Device Description: version identification, hardware type, operating-system,

networking software, textual description

3) CPU LOAD: Processor Load

4) Hard Drive Status: How much free space is there

5) RAM status: Current allocation of RAM

6) Services Running: List of running services on device

7) Up Time: Uptime since device has started

3 Device Mapping: This sub-module allows administrator to see the graphical

representation of whole network at large. This module also lets you choose any

device and see its detailed properties on one click. It represents interconnections

between the devices of network along with their properties.

Fig 3 Computer Network Map

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2. Device Configuration :

The network mapper module identifies the devices connected in the network.

Once these devices are mapped, the device configuration module identifies the

respective properties associated with all the connected network devices.

It allows administrator to configure the devices and their properties as per his/her

requirement.

It allows administrator to create and maintain profiles for individual devices.

To allow secure access to these profiles of network devices, it also provides the

functionality of setting-up of passwords.

Using device configuration module, the administrator can also set the threshold

values for different properties of different devices, so that if a parameter-value of

a certain device goes beyond the threshold-value then an alert could be generated

and the preventive measures could be rapidly taken.

This module is for the ADMINISTRATOR and Users with access to

Configuration level.

List & Description of sub-modules:

1 Data fetcher: It brings device properties from 1st module (Network Mapping) &

utilizes it for further settings & profile generations. Brings all the parameters

selected by users also it dumps data in database. Database consists of static and

dynamic data regarding devices.(Every time polling is done in 3rd

module, data

is updated)

2 Configuration: It basically manages device profile level control. Here you can

set parameters like. Changing the services from the list of running services.

Shutting down or checking the status of services. Stores personalized profile for

every device & also the threshold value for different parameters

E.g. You can set Threshold value for CPU Usage property to alert you if usage

goes above threshold

3. Fault Detection and Notification (alerting) :

This software module monitors the network 24*7.

Whenever any fault occurs in the network like a device stops working or any

device property goes beyond the restricted value or any device mis-performs, then

this module will immediately notice that error and will generate an alert to notify

the user about the network-fault.

It will immediately give the detailed information regarding the error to the

software administrator. This module detects the errors using two types:

1) Using traps.

2) Using periodic scan on user-defined intervals.

In the first method, it is the network device that notifies the module about any

error that occurs in the device. Whenever, any network device experiences any

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fault, then using trap it will immediately notify the software about the fault and

in-turn the software will immediately generate an alert with respect to that fault.

Whereas, in the second method, this software module does periodic scan of the

network, and if some fault occurs in the network, then it is captured by the

software during this scan and an alert is generated.

Output of this module can be seen by ADMINISTRATOR, OPERATOR and

NETWORK MAINTENANCE STAFF.

List & Description of sub-modules:

1. Configuration Fetcher: This module fetches the profile data of different devices

from configurations module.

2. Event Handler: This module responds to SNMP traps generated by different

devices as per the threshold & parameters settings. It uses the concept of

Passive fault detection. The types of generic traps to which it responds are as

follows:

Coldstart or Warmstart: The agent reinitialized its configuration tables.

Linkup or Linkdown: A network interface card (NIC) on the agent either fails

or reinitializes.

Authentication fails: This happens when an SNMP agent gets a request from

an unrecognized community name.

EGP Neighborloss: Agent cannot communicate with its EGP (Exterior

Gateway Protocol) peer.

Enterprise specific: Vendor specific error conditions and error codes.

3. Interval Scanner: This sub-module on the basis of user defined interval scans

the entire network. It uses the concept of Active fault detection.

4. Conversion (from SNMP to OPC Protocol):

The fault detection and notification module represents the collected error-data in

SNMP protocol.

However, the SCADA screen present in the control room cannot interpret the data

which is in SNMP protocol format; it can only understand the data which is

represented in OPC format.

Hence, in order to display the collected error-data on SCADA screen, we need to

convert it from SNMP to OPC protocol.

This conversion is carried out in the ―conversion‖ module; and after performing

the conversion the error-data is transferred to SCADA screen in order to get

displayed.

This module is only for the ADMINISTRATOR.

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Fig 4 OPC Alert Format

Field Name Syntax Size

(bytes) Description

PDU Type Integer

(Enumerated) 4

PDU Type: An integer value that indicates the PDU type, which is 4 for a Trap-PDU message.

Enterprise Sequence ofInteger

Variable Enterprise: An object identifier for a group, which indicates the type of object that generated the trap.

Agent Addr NetworkAddress 4

Agent Address: The IP address of the SNMP agent that generated the trap. This is of course also in the IP header at lower levels but inclusion in the SNMP message format allows for easier trap logging within SNMP. Also, in the case of a multihomed host, this specifies the preferred address.

Generic Trap

Integer (Enumerated)

4 Generic Trap Code: A code value specifying one of a number of predefined “generic” trap types.

Specific Trap

Integer 4 Specific Trap Code: A code value indicating an implementation-specific trap type.

Time Stamp

TimeTicks 4

Time Stamp: The amount of time since the SNMP entity sending this message last initialized or reinitialized. Used to time stamp traps for logging purposes.

Variable Bindings

Variable Variable Variable Bindings: A set of name-value pairs identifying the MIB objects in the PDU.

Table 2 SNMP Trap Packets

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5. Network Logger and Report Generation:

This module firstly generates the error-reports of the faults detected in the fault

detection module; and it then stores these reports in a database for future

reference.

These reports contain the detailed information about the faults that occurred in the

network like

1. Fault description,

2. Fault type,

An error-log is also created by this module for recording these faults in a file.

This error-log gives the complete list of the errors that occurred in the network in

a particular duration along with the time at which these errors occurred.

This module also facilitates the monitoring of crucial parameters of a device like:

1. IP Address,

2. System Name,

3. CPU load,

4. Hardware Configuration,

5. RAM, etc.

This is done by generating report for these monitored parameters and based on

these detailed reports, the user can study and analyze the changing pattern in their

values and can arrive at an appropriate inference. The report would contain:

1. Error Name,

2. Error Type,

3. Error Description.

This module is for the ADMINISTRATOR & NETWORK MAINTENANCE

STAFF.

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE SURVEY

SNMP management began in the 1970s. Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) was

developed to manage Advanced Research Project Agency NETwork (ARPANET). It is a

mechanism to transfer control messages between nodes. A popular example of this is

Packet Internet Groper (PING), which is part of the TCP/IP suite now. PING is a very

simple tool that is used to investigate the health of a node and the robustness of

communication with it from the source node. It started as an early form of network-

monitoring tool.

ARPANET, which started in 1969, developed into the Internet in the 1980s with the

advent of UNIX and the popularization of client–server architecture. Data were

transmitted in packet form using routers and gateways. TCP/IP-based networks grew

rapidly, mostly in defense and academic communities and in small entrepreneurial

companies taking advantage of the electronic medium for information exchange. National

Science Foundation officially dropped the name ARPANET in 1984 and adopted the

name Internet. Note that the Internet is spelled with a capital I and is limited to a TCP/IP-

based network. An Internet Advisory Board (IAB) was formed to administer Internet

activities, which are covered in the next section.

SNMP standards are defined in a series of documents, called request for comments or

RFCs, proposed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). A list of RFCs for

SNMPv1, SNMPv2, and SNMPv3 are available on http://www.snmp.com. The IETF

has changed the recommended status of SNMPv1 and SNMPv2c to historic. The IETF

now recommends using SNMPv3 for internet management.

There is also printed literature available on SNMP management. Few noteworthy books

on SNMP management which we have referred are as follows:

1. Building Network Management Tools with Tcl/Tk

Dave Zeltserman and Gerard Puoplo

The stated target audience for this book is the systems administrator or network

consultant who needs to develop network management software. While feature-rich

third-party network management tools (for example, HP's Openview) are widely

available, there may be times when an administrator or network consultant will find

that the tools at his/her disposal are not flexible enough to solve a particular

problem. In addition, the costs of purchasing third-party tools can often be

prohibitive; it may be impractical to spend thousands of dollars on a package,

especially if one's network status monitoring needs tend to be modest. This is when

this book comes to the rescue.

2. Essential SNMP

Douglas R Mauro, Kevin J Schmidt

Essential SNMP is a practical introduction to SNMP for network and system

administrators. It starts with the basics of SNMP and how it works, along with the

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technical background to use it effectively. The book covers OIDs, MIBs,

community strings, traps, and other technical elements. But the main focus is on

practical network administration: how to configure SNMP agents and network

management stations, how to use SNMP to retrieve and modify variables on

network devices, how to configure management software to react to traps sent by

managed devices.

Essential SNMP explores both commercial and open source packages, including

HP's OpenView, Castle Rock's SNMPc, the Net-SNMP tools, Simon Leinen's Perl

SNMP support, and MRTG. Administrators will come away with ideas for writing

scripts to help them manage their networks, create managed objects, and extend the

operation of SNMP agents. In addition to SNMPv1 and v2, the book covers

SNMPv3, which has just started to appear in commercial products as of this

printing.

3. How to Manage Your Network Using SNMP: The Networking Management

Practicum

The SNMP — the Simple Network Management Protocol — is the standard for

open, interoperable network management — defining 2000 items of management

information. Written by the authors of the SNMP, this exceptionally practical

reference goes beyond the standards by explaining which of those 2000 items are

important and how to make use of them in order to improve the efficiency of real

networks.

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CHAPTER 3: DESIGN AND ANALYSIS

3.1. Database Name: <ndfd>

Table Name : <users>

Data Field Data Type Size Constraints Description

userid Char 50 Primary Key.

Not Null.

Stores

username of

users of NDFD

system.

password char 50 Not Null User password.

user_type char 50 Not Null Value to assign

role to user.

Table Name: <property_list>

Data Field Data Type Size Constraints Description

property_oid char 50 Primary Key.

Not Null

Stores OID of

different

properties

property_name char 50 Not Null

Name of the

property which

is monitored

return_type char 50 Not Null

Value returned

when property

is called for

device.

default_threshold char 50 Not Null

Default

threshold value

for property.

Table Name: <config_data>

Data Field Data Type Size Constraint Description

dev_prop_id char 50 Primary Key.

Not Null

Unique

identifier for

specific

property of

device.

threshold_value char 50 Not Null

Default

threshold value

for property.

severity char 50 Not Null Criticality of

property.

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Table Name: <device_data1>

Data Field Data Type Size Constraints Description

device_id char 50 Primary Key.

Not Null

Unique

identifier for

device in

network.

ip_addr char 50 Not Null IP address of

device.

device_name char 50 Not Null Name of device.

val_change int 10 Not Null

Count

indicating

number of times

device

discovered.

Table Name:<discovery_selection_data>

Data Field Data Type Size Constraints Description

dev_prop_id char 50 Primary Key.

Not Null

Unique

identifier for

specific

property of

device.

device_id char 50 Foreign Key.

Not Null.

Unique

identifier for

device in

network.

sel_prop_OID char 50 Foreign Key.

Not Null.

Stores OID of

different

properties

live_value char 50 Not Null.

Returns current

value generated

when device

was monitored.

1 device_data table would be updated on daily basis to check if IP address of particular devices were modified

or not.

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Table Name:<error_msg>

Data Field Data Type Size Constraint Description

property_oid char 50 Foreign Key.

Not Null.

Stores OID of

different

properties

error_msg char 50 Not Null.

Desrcption of

the error

generated.

Table Name: <error_data2>

Data Field Data Type Size Constraints Description

error_id char 50 Primary Key.

Not Null

Unique

identifier for

error.

error_msg char 50 Message of

error generated

dev_prop_id char 50 Foreign Key.

Not Null

Unique

identifier for

specific

property of

device.

date_time datetime NA Current Date

and Time

Date and time

at which error

was generated.

error_type char 50 Not Null Type of error.

marked_status integer 11 Not Null.

Shows that

errors have

been notified.

2 error_data would be backed up on regular interval for the sake of data storage and error notification.

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3.2. Data Flow Diagram: A data flow diagram models a system by using external

entities from which data flows to a process which transforms the data and creates

output data flows which goes to other processes or external entities or data stores.

Fig 5 Level 0 DFD

Fig 6 Level 1 DFD

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Fig 7 Level 2 DFD

Fig 8 Level 3 DFD

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3.3. Use Case Diagram: A use case diagram at its simplest is a representation of a

user's interaction with the system and depicting the specifications of a use case. A

use case diagram can portray the different types of users of a system and the various

ways that they interact with the system.

Fig 9 Use Case Diagram

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3.4. Activity Diagram: An activity diagram gives a flow of how an activity has been

performed to execute certain task.

Fig 10 Activity Diagram

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3.5. Sequence Diagram: A sequence diagram is a kind of interaction diagram that

shows how processes operate with one another and in what order.

Fig 11 Sequence Diagram

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CHAPTER 4: TECHNOLOGY USED

4.1. Software:

1. Microsoft Visual Studio: - Visual Studio is used to develop graphical user interface

applications, console applications, desktop applications, web sites, web applications,

and web services in both native code as well as managed code for all platforms

supported by Microsoft. It should be noted that this is a programmer's tool, or a suite

of programmer's tools, and not a user application.

The Visual Studio Integrated Development Environment (IDE) consists of various

tools such as form designer, an editor, a compiler, a debugger, etc. to visually create

forms, modify the programming codes, for translating visual basic statements into

intermediate machine code, to locate and correct errors, etc.

Various components of Visual Studio IDE can be stated as below:

Solution Explorer: The Solution Explorer uses different icons to distinguish

between source code files that define forms and those that don’t.

Each form is defined by two Visual Basic source files where each file contains

a partial class. The file with the .vb extension contains the code that’s entered

by the programmer; The file with the Designer.vb extension contains the code

that’s generated when the programmer works with the Form Designer. When

the project is compiled, these partial classes are combined into a single class

that determines the appearance and operation of the form.

A source code file that doesn’t define a form is usually stored in a single

Visual Basic source file that contains a single class.

The References folder contains references to the assemblies for the

namespaces that the application can use. These namespaces contain the

classes that the project requires. In most cases, all the references that you need

are included when the project is created.

Toolbox: The toolbox holds the tools you use to place controls on a form. You may

have more or different tools in your toolbox, depending on the edition of Visual

Basic you are using (Express, Standard, Professional, or Team System).Various

tools categorized in Common Controls, Containers, Menus & toolbars , Data ,

Components etc. One can drag and drop tools as per requirements in design window

of application.

Server Explorer: The Server Explorer tool is used to manage database connections

on an accessible computer. It is also used to browse running Windows Services,

performance counters, and Windows Event Log and message queues and use them

as a data source.

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Properties Editor: The Properties Editor tool is used to edit properties in a GUI pane

inside Visual Studio. It lists all available properties (both read-only and those which

can be set) for all objects including classes, forms, web pages and other items. It

also contains the events associated with tools by which one can handle the various

events.

2. SQL server 2008: - SQL Server 2008 aims to make data management self-tuning, self

organizing, and self maintaining with the development of SOLServerAlwaysOn

technologies, to provide near-zero downtime. SQL Server 2008 also includes support

for structured and semi-structured data, including digital media formats for pictures,

audio, video and other multimedia data. In current versions, such multimedia data can

be stored as BLOBs (binary large objects), but they are generic bitstreams. Intrinsic

awareness of multimedia data will allow specialized functions to be performed on

them. SQL Server 2008 can be a data storage backend for different varieties of data:

XML, email, time/calendar, file, document, spatial, etc as well as perform search,

query, analysis, sharing, and synchronization across all data types.

SQL Server includes better compression features, which also helps in improving

scalability. It enhances the indexing algorithms and introduces the notion of filtered

indexes. It also includes Resource governer that allows reserving resources for certain

users or workflows. It also includes capabilities for transparent encryption of data

(TDE) as well as compression of backups. SQL Server 2008 supports the ADO.NET

Entity Framework and the reporting tools, replication, and data definition will be built

around the Entity Data Model. SQL Server Reporting Services will gain charting

capabilities from the integration of the data visualization products from Dundas Data

Visualization, Inc., which was acquired by Microsoft. On the management side, SQL

Server 2008 includes the Declarative Management Framework which allows

configuring policies and constraints, on the entire database or certain tables,

declaratively. The version of SQL Server Management Studio included with SQL

Server 2008 supports IntelliSense for SQL queries against a SQL Server 2008

Database Engine. SQL Server 2008 also makes the databases available via Windows

PowerShell providers and management functionality available as Cmdlets, so that the

server and all the running instances can be managed from WindowsPowerShell.

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4.2. WebNMS.NET SNMP API: WebNMS SNMP API .NET Edition is a

comprehensive development toolkit for SNMP-based network management

applications. WebNMS's SNMP stack comprises a set of powerful .NET SNMP

library to build real-time applications for monitoring and tracking network elements

that are reliable and scalable.

4.2.1.Key Features of WebNMS SNMP API .NET Edition Multi-lingual support: Complete support for SNMPv1 and SNMPv2c versions. Robust SMIv1 and SMIv2 MIB Parser: Seamlessly parses the MIB definitions

from any OEM vendor. Offers various modes of parsing based on the MIB

definitions. SNMP Broadcasting: Broadcasts SNMP packets across the network to auto-

discover SNMP devices in the network. Command line utilities: Perform SNMP operations such as, SNMP GET, SNMP

GETNEXT, SNMP SET, SNMP BULK, SNMP WALK, etc. on remote agents. 4.2.2. WebNMS SNMP API Architecture WebNMS SNMP API consists of a hierarchy of .NET packages that enables rapid

development of element and network management applications for a wide variety

of domains.

It is built upon a layered architecture, which contains the SNMP Package and the

Transport Provider Framework, and the MIBs API.

Fig 12 SNMP API

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4.2.3. System Requirements for .NET SNMP API

Operating System

Windows 2000

Windows XP

Windows 2003

Windows 7

Hardware Requirements

CPU: Minimum 500 MHz Pentium Processor

Memory: Minimum 128 MB RAM

Disk Space: Minimum 150 MB

Software Requirements

.NET Framework version 1.1 redistributable

Microsoft Visual J# version 1.1 redistributable

4.3. Languages:

1. C# .net: - C# is a multi-paradigm programming language encompassing strong typing,

imperative, declarative, functional, generic, object-oriented (class-based), and

component-oriented programming disciplines. It was developed by Microsoft within

its .NET initiative and later approved as a standard by Ecma (ECMA-334) and ISO.

C# is one of the programming languages designed for the Common Language

Infrastructure.

Designing goal :-

C# language is intended to be a simple, modern, general-purpose, object-oriented

programming language.

The language, and implementations thereof, should provide support for software

engineering principles such as strong type checking, array bound checking detection

of attempts to use uninitialized variables, and automatic garbage collection. Software

robustness, durability, and programmer productivity are important.

The language is intended for use in developing software components suitable for

deployment in distributed environments.

Source code portability is very important, as is programmer portability, especially

for those programmers already familiar with C and C++.

C# is intended to be suitable for writing applications for both hosted and embedded

systems, ranging from the very large that use sophisticated operating systems down

to the very small having dedicated functions.

Although C# applications are intended to be economical with regard to memory and

processing power requirements, the language was not intended to compete directly

on performance and size with C or assembly language.

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CHAPTER 5: RESULT ANALYSIS

Fig 13 Main page.

The above figure shows the main page of NDFD software which provides various options for

the administrator.

Fig 14 Device discovery

The above figure will search for the devices in the network for the specified range of IP

address provided.

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Fig 15 List of devices in network.

The list of all the devices connected in the network is displayed along with their ID address.

This list is provided so that admin can view device specific properties.

Fig 16 List of properties for device ―Computer2‖.

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Fig 17 Fault Detection.

The above figure shows the detection of fault generated by a router while starting its services.

This kind of fault is called ―Cold Start‖. The quality indicates that the router started without

any problem.

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CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION

In today’s world, networks play an important role everywhere. Even in instrumentation and

automation industries, critical devices are connected by a network. Hence, network

management becomes a critical and tedious task to perform. The NDFD software helps in

performing network management activities easily and keeping the industry up and running.

The NDFD software performs activities like Network Discovery, Device Configuration,

Fault Detection OPC conversion and Error Logging. The NDFD software is unique as

compared to other NMS available in market, because it includes the facility of OPC server

within it, relieving the industry from purchasing additional costly OPC servers in order to

display the data on screen.

Moreover, the user-interface of NDFD software is simple and user-friendly. Hence, it is easy,

even for a layman, to operate the software. It is also cheap as compared to other NMS

softwares available in the market. Hence, the NDFD software is tailor-made for automation

industries providing them the efficient network management and improving the industry’s

overall production efficiency.

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Chapter 7: FUTURE ENHANCEMENTS

Although, the NDFD software is an improved and customized version of NMS software

available in the markets, there is still scope for future improvements.

In future, we can include the facility of fault correction in the software. We can provide

software with the corrective actions to be taken if some generic faults occur. Moreover,

network efficiency can be improved by decreasing the frequency of message exchanges and

providing data compression. Security measures like data encryption, user authentication and

authorization can also be provided.

Lastly, error logging facility can also be improved by providing customized report

generation. This report could help the other user in interpreting the performance trends of the

devices and extrapolating it to predict future performance.

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References [1] http://www.itc22.com/fileadmin/ITC22_files/dc-caves-yoshizawa-camera-

ready.pdf

[2] http://cisco.sitecelerate.com/en/US/i/200001-300000/290001-300000/291001-

292000/291484.jpg

[3] http://network-management.findthebest.com/compare/2-6-13-18-34/Orion-

Network-Perfomance-Monitor-vs-ManageEngine-OpManager-vs-Whatsup-Gold-

vs-Spiceworks-vs-Lansweeper

[4] http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk869/tk769/technologies_white_paper09186a0

0800aea9c.shtml

[5] http://www.cisco.com/E-

Learning/public/shared/pdf/DFM2_0_Tutorial_Final_March2005.pdf

[6] http://www.solarwinds.com/it-management-glossary/what-is-network-

management-system.aspx

[7] http://www.sce.carleton.ca/netmanage/NetMngmnt/NetMngmnt.html

[8] http://www.technibble.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19884

[9] http://avcinfotech.blogspot.in/2007/06/what-is-nms.html

[10] Building Network Management Tools with Tcl/Tk by Dave Zeltserman and

Gerard Puoplo

[11] Essential SNMP by Douglas R Mauro, Kevin J Schmidt

[12] How to Manage Your Network Using SNMP: The Networking Management

Practicum