Latin America. According to an analysis by Gartner, a minute of downtime can cost an organization an average of $ 5,600, in other words, the hour could mean $ 330,000 in expenses and losses, but that figure can become higher depending on the industry.
There is a wide range of network elements that cause these types of interruptions. Cable interconnects, power sources, switches, dense computing chassis, storage arrays, and even air conditioning are potential sources of problems. Network devices are increasing in complexity, software stacks that are updated frequently and that makes them susceptible to errors (vulnerabilities).
This topic continues to be debated in different scenarios given its complexity, Miranda Ragland, Channel Marketing Manager at Opengear, explained: "As businesses grow, their networks become more complex and new implementations or acquisitions may lack the ability to connect over the Internet uninterruptedly and seamlessly."
Similarly, Ragland added that when the main network suffers constant drops, it is necessary to reflect if part of the problem is that the different parts such as datacenters, branch offices, peripheral networks and IoT devices do not have sufficient levels of security, stability and -above all- resilience.
We are in times where no business can afford interruptions, but the larger the network, the more likely they are to occur. Outages are costly and may require technicians to attend the site to take care of them — even — firmware updates, configuration changes, and power cycle to fix errors require hands-on assistance. However, this is a big challenge for IT administrators, as they do not always have enough human or financial resources to send technical staff to the different sites.
In-band and out-of-band management
If your business has a production ISP connection for network traffic that includes VPN, web, email, cloud applications, and much more, there is often only one main network connection (T1, cable, SD-WAN, or MPLS), which routes this traffic to the Internet.
That way, management information flows through the same interfaces as user data. When management and data share this same plane, you end up using the data plane to access your network equipment. This is known as in-band management. When you manage your computer using an in-band network, data and control commands travel through the same network path, so your management plane has the same security vulnerabilities as your data plane and may be left out of the management plane due to outage.
Now, management traffic can be run over a separate network that only handles management traffic. This is Out of Band Management (OOB). The OOB offers you an alternative way to connect to your remote computer, such as routers, switches, and servers through the management plane, without directly accessing the device's production IP address in the data plane and independent of the primary ISP connection your company uses.
This Out-of-Band path is completely separate from the production network and allows administrators to securely monitor, access, and manage all devices without interfering with normal operations and, more importantly, without having to allow data plane-level access to the management plane. However, Opengear has gone a step further by offering Smart Out-Of-Band.
"Console servers, coming equipped with Smart-Out-Of-Band, continuously monitor the conditions of network equipment such as its power state or the environment and serial signal, which generates that a potential network problem is detected in advance and the necessary measures are taken automatically to resolve the situation. Thus creating a more resilient network," said the Opengear expert.
Since the Out-of-Band network separates user traffic and management, you can block, restrict access, and completely secure the management plane. In addition, you can configure, manage, and troubleshoot devices even when the data plane is idle. An OOB solution offers a secondary connection, often via 4G LTE, that allows the network technician to resolve issues from anywhere remotely and securely and, more importantly, save the company time and money.
From Opengear, it is stressed that, for companies with remote offices, out-of-band management should be a priority. Instead of having to send a network technician to the site, troubleshooting and equipment management can be done from anywhere, at any time and through a centralized management system that provides visibility into each of the network components.
