What Is A Network Operations Center (NOC) ?: Learn More About Continuum's NOC in Our
What Is A Network Operations Center (NOC) ?: Learn More About Continuum's NOC in Our
What Is A Network Operations Center (NOC) ?: Learn More About Continuum's NOC in Our
Not sure what a Network Operations Center (NOC) is or how it relates to remote
monitoring and management services? Keep reading!
Overview
NOC engineers and technicians are responsible for monitoring every netflow, hop,
server and endpoint attached to an MSP’s client networks. They monitor
infrastructure health, security and capacity, and make decisions and adjustments to
ensure optimal network performance and organizational productivity.
When any action or intervention from the MSP is required, NOC technicians can
create alerts (or “tickets”) that identify and categorize the issue based on severity,
alert type, and a number of other criteria. Depending on the relationship between
the NOC and the MSP, technical teams can then work together to resolve the
problem (and identify its root cause to prevent future issues).
Policy enforcement
Firewall and intrusion prevention system (IPS) monitoring and management
A Silent Partnership
Despite the many things that a Network Operations Center is, there’s one thing it
absolutely is not – a help desk. This is an important distinction, and one that can
easily confuse business owners if not properly explained. The big difference? The
help desk is where all end-client interaction takes place.
The NOC provides back end maintenance, problem resolution and support, so that
the MSP can respond to issues as they arise and ensure client uptime. The help
desk, on the other hand, is a call center –designed to field front-line questions
directly from end-clients who are actively experiencing some issue. In other words –
if an end-user is having a problem, they can call the help desk. If the MSP is having
a problem, they’ll contact the NOC.
A network operations center (NOC) is a place from which administrators supervise, monitor and maintain
a telecommunications network. Large enterprises with large networks as well as large network service
providers typically have a network operations center, a room containing visualizations of the network or
networks that are being monitored, workstations at which the detailed status of the network can be
seen, and the necessary software to manage the networks. The network operations center is the focal
point for network troubleshooting, software distribution and updating, router and domain name
management, performance monitoring, and coordination with affiliated networks.
NOC engineers[edit]
A NOC engineer has several duties in order to ensure the smooth running of the network. They
deal with things such as DDoS Attacks, power outages, network failures, and routing black-
holes. There are of course the basic roles, such as remote hands, support, configuration of
hardware (such as firewalls and routers, purchased by a client). NOC engineers also have to
ensure the core network is stable. This can be done by configuring hardware in a way that makes
the network more secure, but still has optimal performance. NOC engineers are also responsible
for monitoring activity, such as network usage, temperatures etc. They would also have to install
equipment, such as KVMs, rack installation, IP-PDU setup, running cabling. The majority of
NOC engineers are also on call and have a 5-6 day rotation, working different shifts.