Have you ever come across a data center? At least for a site visit or for a field activity? What if you are having a co-location data center space? You need to get information from another team that you are not even aware of? If yes, one of the main teams that you might have worked with is network operations team and security guards. Isn’t it? Now let us understand what is network operation center(NOC) and what is the necessity of the NOC team in a data center?

The Network Operations Centre ((NOC, pronounced like the word knock), also known as a “network management center” is a facility that manages many disparate ICT systems via integrated technologies that monitor and remotely maintain technology infrastructures, applications and environments Also monitoring alarms or trigger conditions that may cause a severe outage. NOC team is one or more locations from which network monitoring and control, or network management, is exercised over a computer, telecommunication or satellite network. In short, NOC teams are also like any other IT team with the main functionality of monitoring, manage and initiate necessary steps to resolve any unexpected incidents and taking preventative steps to ensure many issues do not occur. NOC teams are also heavily involved in high-level security actions and backup and disaster recovery (BDR) efforts, ensuring 24x7x365 data center availability.

Many managed IT service providers (MSP) use these centers to ensure 24/7 uptime for all of their clients. An MSP maintains an in-house NOC, outsources a third-party provider, or chooses a mixed solution; nevertheless, NOC services, functions and responsibilities stay the same.

ROLES AND FUNCTIONALITY OF NOC TEAM IN A DATA CENTER

The operational heart of any well organized and functional data center is a strong and well structured NOC.  The NOC is not just personnel, it also employs a high degree of automation technology. The technology (and software) provides the tools to monitor and highlight network concerns or faults, before impacting the business. The tools also perform much of the analysis that separates actual

incidents from false alarms. These technical applications of the NOC will only become fully effective when they are integrated into the operational process and procedures.

Also, we can say that NOC manages infrastructure and procedural changes, events, customer calls, security, quality control and assurance, monitoring tools, ticketing systems, integration with customer tools, reporting and dashboards, and more. Just as important as the technology that lies within the NOC, however, is the operations and the support team required to deliver high-quality support.

The NOC is tasked with the responsibility for the coordination of the operational monitoring 24 x 365 and active management of the data center infrastructure, directly enforcing the business process and procedures This must be a proactive measure and undertaken as a business strategy, and a controlling point for lessons learned to be recorded and fed back to management for process reviews. Without a structured balance controlled by the strict enforcement of the business process and procedures, the NOC will be constantly firefighting the risk of unplanned downtime and have no mechanism to effectively respond and resolve matters before impacting upon the business.

Network operation centers handle issues in a hierarchical manner so that if an issue is not resolved in a specific time frame, the next level is informed to speed up the problem solving. Most of the network operation centers have multiple tiers, which define the skill of a network operation center technician. When an escalated issue is not resolved within the stipulated time, it is escalated once again to the next level to ensure a speedy resolution.

For example, if a piece of hardware fails, NOC will assign an alert to a Level 1 technician, which is the first line of defense to fix issues. After inspecting the hardware, this technician might recognize that the problem goes beyond a simple hardware failure and will escalate the problem to a higher-level technician, as needed. This is just one of the many ways that NOCs hierarchically handles issues to ensure that the best person for the job receives the alert. Overall, a NOC’s most basic function is to be able to help maintain a company’s network uptime and ensure that it is running smoothly and without interruption.

STRUCTURE OF NOC TEAM

The NOC size (room and number of engineers) is typically driven by the size of the data center and its business criticality. Not all data centers have a NOC room with a 24/7 team. Smaller data centers often use automated monitoring and resolution software in place of a NOC in an attempt to deal with those functions without much human intervention.

Network operation centers include rows of the desk facing video walls, which display significant alarm details, ongoing incidents, and general network performance. The back walls of network operation centers are glazed and an attached room is used by members of the team responsible for dealing with serious incidents. Individual desks are assigned to specific technology. Technicians have numerous monitors on their desks with extra monitors used to monitor systems covered from the desk.

NOC team can be internal or external, whereas internal NOC means that the team is managed by the same data center provider and external NOC means that the team is managed by a third party provider or vendor.

Data center managers are having the choice of operating an internal NOC or outsourcing those functions to a NOC service provider. The first option would require the data center to extend the internal functionality of its existing 24×7 operation so that it includes infrastructure monitoring.

A data center manager might elect to go internal if it has a relatively simple technology environment consisting of a limited number of equipment vendors as well as relatively repetitive configurations and tasks. Additionally, this would be the right choice if there is enough work to keep the staff busy.

Data center managers have to take into account that it may not be worth it to run a NOC unless there is enough work to keep personnel busy. If that is the case, it might be better to outsource the NOC. Additional barriers to adding a NOC internally can sometimes be the hefty price tag often associated with infrastructure management tools. If the data center doesn’t already have them, it may be cheaper to obtain these management functions externally. Similarly, a scarcity of internal talent can change the cost equation – the hiring of experienced NOC staff won’t be cheap.

Outsourcing a NOC takes away the need to own and maintain software tools, hire, train and manage additional staff, and develop workflows. Choose to outsource if you don’t have enough work to keep staff busy round the clock, if the technologies and vendors being managed are complex and numerous, if hiring and maintaining a staff is difficult in your particular area, or management does not have experience running a NOC.

Clearly a solid case can be made in favor of outsourcing the NOC. Equally, there can be much in favor of retaining those functions internally. It is up to the data center manager to take everything into consideration before any final decision is made.

IS A NOC THE SAME AS A HELP DESK?

No, a NOC and a help desk are not interchangeable services. The big difference between the two is that the help desk is where all end-client interaction takes place.

The NOC provides back-end maintenance, support, and problem resolution so that the MSP can respond to client issues that may arise. On the other hand, a help desk is a call centre was created to receive questions directly from the end-clients who are actively experiencing some issue.

Simply put, if an end-user is having a problem, they contact the help desk. If the MSP is having a program, they would contact the NOC.

In a co-location data center, there could be a NOC team as well as helpdesk which would be present. Even though this is structure, there are many data centers that are operating by combining helpdesk and NOC teams together. This can result in more workload for the NOC team however it can give big cost savings for data center management.

SUMMARY

A NOC is designed to help companies manage and monitor their network system without having to do everything manually. Companies set their NOC up to monitor all types of things going on in their network, and it is imperative that it can provide the right information when needed to make sure everything runs smoothly.

Overall, a Network Operations Center can help a company by providing quality technical support to their network year-round, 24 hours a day. They are trained to monitor and review different issues that could make any network fail, and they are experienced in hierarchically providing quality technical support, to make sure that everything is supported in a timely and proficient manner. So what do you think? Isn’t the function of a NOC team is highly required to maintain the highest availability?

Knowledge Credits: www.datacenterknowledge.com

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