Fifteen minute tour of your major
telcos NOC (Network Operations Center).
It's a quarter to four in the
morning, and you are staring mirthlessly
at five fifty-inch
monitors glowing with safe
greens, worrisome
ambers, and troubling
reds.
The screens represent
network segments and are
broken up into
Government,
Public,
Private.
Whoops, circuit down. Nortel IBAM alarm view shows a FRUNI
with LMI down.
The process begins.
1. Identify the customer.
2. Determine how much we care that this customer is down.
3. It's Goverment...damn...guaranteed uptime and penalties involved.
4. Cut a ticket.
5. Pull up network topology for the trouble from the database.
6. Trace circuit, determine test access points.
It's a 1.544 Mb/s PVC that feeds a core router. Verify status on
HP OpenView.
It's tracked through a port on the DT1 card in the "A" shelf of a Newbridge
3600 MUX.
It passes through two carrier offices with test access on 2 DSX
bays.
Two options for testing...take the easy one.
7. Circuit is down, so begin intrusive testing.
8. Run an end to end BERT test using the DNIC card one side of the
MUX.
9. Test from point to point and prove DS1 integrity. Pick QRSS
pattern and let run for 10 minutes.
10. Circuit is clean, no CRC errors, no slips.
11. Call customer POC. Try to verify power and equipment.
12. Pend ticket while waiting for response.
Finish off last of your now cold coffee, rub eyes, pray for death.