HP Intelligent Management Center

FlexManagement converges network management and orchestration

Solution brief

If youre a network or IT administrator, you know

the problems: Youre dealing with a growing wave
of enterprise video content, and your network is
struggling to keep pace with exponential traffic
increases and the shift toward mobile access. Youre
trying to address the escalating demands of the
virtualized and cloud-ready data center. And youve
seen how difficultmake that nearly impossibleit is
for network IT to secure and orchestrate services in the
virtual cloud and the virtualized workplace.
At the same time, your customers expectations
are higher. Todays enterprise users demand
constant and immediate connectivity across wired
and wireless links. They want instant-on access to
business applications from their fixed and mobile
workstations. And they expect to switch seamlessly
and transparently from traditional IT to private and
public clouds and back.

Typical budget allocation for IT organizations

33%

67%

New IT project initiatives

Ongoing IT operations
Source: 2009 InformationWeek Analytics survey of InformationWeek 500
executives

Keeping pace with these requirements is a tall order

for the IT managerone made no easier by swivelchair management, which results from dependence
on the mismatched management tools provided by
network vendors. As a result, many organizations
find that IT staff time and budget is overwhelmingly
devoted to ongoing operations and maintenance
instead of developing new initiatives and projects or
expanding capacity to support business growth. In
fact, more than 70 percent of any IT budget is spent
just keeping the lights on, leaving less than 30 percent
to deliver business-critical innovation.
Solving such seemingly intractable problems calls
for a new type of network management, one that
combines a capability for single-pane-of-glass
multivendor management with automated virtual
machine orchestration and automatic synchronization
of network connectivity information. At HP, we call
this FlexManagement. And its available today in the
HPIntelligent Management Center (IMC).

HP Intelligent Management Center (IMC) is a unified, single-pane infrastructure management solution that provides visibility across entire networks,
enabling complete management of resources, services, and users. HP IMC unifies management of wired, wireless, physical, and virtual resources
and their usersleading to increased performance, enhanced security, and reduced infrastructure complexity and costs.

Intelligent Management
Center

IMC multisite management

RK

NETWO

QoS SLA
IPSecVPN

Improved efficiency
and security

NTA
sFLOW &

UAM/
EAD

User
management

Unified wired and

wireless management

HP IMC: making FlexManagement a

reality

Network visibility with

sFlow and NTA

Data center and

virtual management

In the data center, IMC provides insight into what

is a black hole for many network administrators:
the virtualized network environment. IMC v5.0 offers
HP IMC is a comprehensive, modular platform with the new capabilities that allow its single-pane-of-glass
flexibility and scalability to meet the needs of networks multivendor management to automate virtual machine
in the SMB or the global enterprise arena. IMC
orchestration and automatically synchronize network
software delivers superior visibility and management
connectivity information, helping to bridge the
by consolidating a host of traditionally separate
management and operational divide between physical
management tools, including those for managing the
and virtual worlds.
networks elements or resources, its services, and
At the network edge, in a campus or branch office,
its users. Plus, IMC provides the vital orchestration
IMC offers seamless wired and wireless infrastructure
needed for FlexManagement.
management, user access policies, and traffic
HP IMCs integrated toolset extends from the data
analysis. The result is a substantial reduction in manual
center to the edge across an entire heterogeneous
involvement by the IT department, and in time wasted
enterprise network, even if it is geographically
on problem recognition.
dispersed. And IMC supports the management of all
HP networking equipment as well as over 2,600 thirdparty devices from a variety of vendors.

HPs IMC solution represents a mature, integrated

approach for managing complex, multivendor, heavily
virtualized infrastructures across multiple functional
areas. IMCs integral support for security management
sets it apart from the many others in the marketplace,
as does its approach to covering the vast majority of
management tasks within a single product.1

Managing the FlexNetwork

Built on a converged infrastructure of proven innovation, industry standards, and choice, the HPFlexNetwork
architecture changes the rules of networking. FlexNetwork helps segment the network, enabling you to
address challenges by aligning the network solutions you deploy to your business needsall managed
through a single pane of glass.
The unique architecture leverages a common set of technologies, products, and orchestration capabilities
to deliver applications and services from the virtualized data center to the virtual and mobile workplace. It
helps enterprises securely deploy and centrally orchestrate video, cloud, and mobile-enhanced architectures
that scale from the data center to the network edge. FlexNetwork includes innovative technologies for:
Securing the FlexFabric: Provides new virtualization-aware, high-performance security platforms to scale
from the campus to a data center of virtualized servers without adding devices and complexity.
Delivering the FlexCampus: Provides unparalleled enterprise network performance, scale, and agility,
maintaining delivery of business video and multimedia content from the cloud to the converged wired/
wireless edge for a theatre-quality user experience.
Orchestrating through FlexManagement: Offers a new capability for its single-pane-of-glass
multivendor management to automate virtual machine orchestration and automatically synchronize network
connectivity information. Naturally, HPIMC is the clear choice for FlexManagement.

 even Priorities for Integrated Network Management: How HP Intelligent Management Center Delivers an Enterprise-class Solution, ENTERPRISE
S
MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATES (EMA) white paper, March 2011.

IMC features map directly to the FCAPS model

FCAPS
model
IMC
platform
features
Add-on
modules

Fault
Alarms

Configuration

Syslog &
trap
manager

Intelligent
Configuration
Center

Service
operation
mgmt

IPSec
MPLS
Wireless
VPN
VPN
services
manager manager manager

QoS/SLA
manager

Accounting
VLAN &
ACL
manager

Aligns with industry standards

HP IMC aligns with all areas of the ISO

Telecommunications Management Networks highly
regarded FCAPS model (for Fault, Configuration,
Accounting, Performance, and Security). It also
supports the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) operational
center of excellence IT practices model, and relies
on a service-oriented architecture (SOA) framework
to provide unparalleled resource, service, and user
management.
Scales and expands with the network

An IMC deployment begins with a base management

system, either IMC Standard for single-network
deployments, or IMC Enterprise that is a manager of
managers for controlling immense or geographically
distributed networks. In most cases, the base platform
is all you needthe platform is highly flexible, and
a single server can manage networks up to 10,000
nodes in size. While the base platform provides a
broad set of features, you can choose from an a la
carte menu of additional software modules to gain
a deeper level of functionality across the FCAPS
model. Functions you can add include sophisticated
traffic analysis, secure access management, endpoint
admission defense, powerful wireless management,
and extensive quality of service (QoS) or servicelevel agreement (SLA) management. You can add
MPLS and IPSec VPN management, too. You can
even add service operations to provide full IT
workflow management from problem recognition,
ticket creation, and problem resolutionall the way
to knowledge base creation. In short, HP IMC is a
single solution that knits together all your infrastructure
management in a single console.
Answers the hard questions

HP IMC answers questions like these:

What is the configuration state and software level of
all my network resources?
What is the network topology and state of each link
and interface?

Network
assets

User
behavior
analysis

Desktop
asset
mgmt

Performance
Performance
mgmt

Network
traffic
analyzer

Virtual
network
mgmt

Security
Security
control
center
User
access
manager

Endpoint
admission
defense

How can I quickly deploy new network resources

into my network while conforming to my companys
standards?
What applications are running in my network?
Is my VLAN architecture intactand how can I gain
visibility to determine if changes are necessary, and
where to add or prune?
How can I audit all the adds, changes, and
deletions to all of my network resources?
How can I deliver important services, and how
should I change resource deployment when services
change?
What traffic is affecting my network, and who or
what is consuming bandwidth?
Where am I over- and undersubscribed?
Which users need to be controlled, and how?
How can I link the network to my organizations
business processes?

Benefits of IMC
Heres what you can expect when you implement
HPIMC for network management:
Lower operating expenses and improved total cost
of ownership, because of automated features,
default alerts, and a consolidation of tools and
correlated information
Improved network availability and reliability that
result in fewer trouble tickets, thanks to automated
configuration management and comprehensive
auditing
Quicker problem recognition and troubleshooting
Improved endpoint defense, control, and visibility
Integrated management between wired and wireless
networks, and even physical and virtual networks
Excellent flexibility and scalability for networks of all
sizes

Features of IMC
With its vast array of capabilities, IMC is uniquely
able to simplify network management, even as it sifts
through thousands of network nodes. IMC highlights
the areas that need attention, and provides insight
and health information about the network as a whole.
Single-pane management

IMCs single-pane management means that you get

the information you need at a glance, including a
display of both physical and virtual assets and wired
and wireless elements. Convenient color-coded views,
topology overlays, and focused zooming make it easy
to view the entire network or to concentrate on an
area of interest.
Unified control of virtual and physical worlds

HP IMC unifies physical and virtual network

management and helps IT overcome the challenges
of administering the new virtual server edge. IMC
brings you a wealth of capabilities enhanced for
virtualization, including:

VM and virtual switch resource management,

including the creation of virtual switches and port
groups
Virtual/physical topology views and status indicators
for networks, workloads, and virtual switches
Automatic reconfiguration of network policies that
remain tied to VMs and virtual workloads as they
move within or across the data center
Thanks to features like these, HP IMC can help
eliminate service interruptions caused by virtual/
physical network configuration errors, reduce
administration and troubleshooting by providing
unified management of physical and virtual network
infrastructure through a single pane of glass, and
ultimately accelerate the delivery of new applications
and services by automating configuration of virtual
and physical network infrastructures.

Automatic discovery of virtual machines (VMs) and

virtual switches, as well as their relationships with
the physical network

IMC maps the topology of the entire network, making it clear which devices are virtual and which are physical. Management focus and policies
remain linked to virtual assets, even if those assets move.

Comprehensive multivendor support, including

support for Cisco

HP IMC provides comprehensive management of all

network devices, including those from HP as well as
from Cisco and other vendors. Management begins
with the automatic discovery and mapping of all
devices on the network, and is further enhanced by
in-depth monitoring of those devices. Unlike some
other solutions, IMC goes beyond monitoring and
provides sophisticated management of multivendor
equipment, as well as interoperability and crossvendor communication.
Powerful administration and control

With HP IMCs comprehensive configuration and

management tools now at your fingertips, managing
individual devices in a serial, one-off fashion is a thing
of the past. Whats more, with IMC you can view the
health and state of virtual machines, migrate VMs
while keeping network profiles intact, and recognize
where virtual resources connect to the physical
network.

deliver powerful fault finding and event generation.

You can view performance statistics and capacity
utilization for network devices, as well as create
reports according to connection port, MAC address,
IP address, or application.
Flexible historical reports provide the information
you need for network trend analysis and capacity
planning. You can easily create inventory reports
as well that show network device details such as
model, firmware, available memory, IP address, serial
number, and more. Reports are run with a mouse
click or can be scheduled to run at regular intervals.
And you can view reports in a number of formats,
including .pdf and .xls, and send them automatically
via email.
Hierarchical management

In forward-thinking organizations, larger and

larger portions of the network are being combined
in ways that actually make the network easier to
manage. And even the standard version of IMC
offers distributed management capabilities that allow
Once devices are deployed, your job is made easier
multiple servers with different installed modules to
by unified resource management, with color-coded
retain the appearance of a single UI. The enterprise
displays that show at a glance if a device is out of
version provides the greatest span of control, with
service, or even if its still running factory default
a hierarchical deployment mode that can extend
values. New in IMC v5.0 are convenient physical
visibility across multiple networks, multiple countries,
topology views that help technicians pinpoint the exact and even multiple continentsall while acting as a
rack, slot, and device where trouble is occurring.
manager of managers. IMC is designed to handle
many tens of thousands of users and offer them
Flexible centralized reporting
varying levels of access to network resources. For
HP IMC receives and logs SNMP traps and syslog
greater flexibility and convenience, you can combine
reports, and can generate online and historical
the distributed and hierarchical modes of deployment.
network performance information in highly adaptable
report formats. A variety of informational methods

As invaluable aids in configuration, troubleshooting, and repair, IMCs data center and room topology views show at a glance where a faulty component is physically located, while the
panel view identifies individual physical devices.

HPs IMC solution represents a mature, integrated

approach for managing complex, multivendor, heavily
virtualized infrastructures across multiple functional
areas.2
Trouble-free administration that transcends the
network

HP IMC includes features designed specifically to

make life easier for network administrators. This
management solution is scalable from SMBs to SPs,
so organizations undergoing dynamic change or
transformation can be confident that their network
administration will remain stable. As a software
solution, IMC enables you to utilize your server of
choice, and supports multiple operating systems
including Windows XP, Windows 2003 and 2008
Server, and Red Hat Linux. You can employ different
backend databases, too, including Microsoft SQL
Server and Oracle Database.
IMC can link to other parts of the business, including
HPs BTO software, making it a perfect solution for
enterprise-wide management that encompasses
business processes as well as the network. The
combination of IMC with BTO software gives HP
an unrivalled total solution with massively scalable
management, intelligent automation, and reporting
capabilities across an entire converged infrastructure.

The base IMC toolkit up close

HP IMC is based on a service-oriented architecture
(SOA) using a business application flow model as the
core, and boasting a modularized on-demand design.
The architecture enables efficient implementation of
end-to-end business management, and the modular
design allows effective integration of traditionally
separate management tools, providing complete
management of resources, services, and users.
Even if you dont go beyond IMC Standard or
Enterprise, you gain a remarkable array of integrated
management tools at your fingertips. The table shows
this management platforms range of out-of-the-box
capabilities.

 P Intelligent Management Center: Enterprise-class Integrated Network

H
Management, Enterprise Management Associates white paper, February
2011.

HP IMC out-of-the-box capabilities

Management

Monitoring and analysis

Overall management of HP and thousands of third-party vendor

network resources such as routers and switches

Monitoring and analysis of network performance

Network element-level management for data communications devices

Management of network assets
Management of VLAN resources

Monitoring of network events and control of security collaboration

Monitoring and troubleshooting of network faults in real time
Sampling and analysis of network performance data

Management of virtual network elements

Analysis of data collected from managed devices to measure network

service performance

Management of guest accounts

Collection, filtering, and analysis of device syslog messages

Management of data analysis projects and tasks

Configuration

Reporting and scheduling

Extraction, transformation, and loading of data between databases

Issuance and display of service reports

Configuration of ACLs for devices to implement flow control for

network traffic

Task scheduling

Intelligent software upgrade management for network devices and

device configurations

Alarm generation

Configuration and monitoring of QoS across the network

IMC modules for added value

In addition to the base IMC system, you can deploy
additional modules with a wide range of specific
management, analysis, and security capabilities.
Heres a list of the value-add modules available with
HP IMC:
User Access Manager (UAM) module

The User Access Manager module addresses one

of the most compelling challenges in networking
security: the discovery, provisioning, and monitoring
of endpoints and users. The UAM module adds
authentication and authorization for endpoints
accessing the network edge, reducing vulnerabilities
and security breaches.
User Behavior Auditor (UBA) module

The addition of the User Behavior Module to IMC

helps you deal with potential security threats from
internal users. Leveraging and mining data from other
IMC service modules, the UBA module provides an
essential view for observing user activity, allowing you
to discover and avoid potential network security risks.
Endpoint Admission Defense (EAD) module

The Endpoint Admission Defense (EAD) module

reduces network vulnerabilities by integrating security
policy management and endpoint posture assessment
to identify and isolate risks right at the network
edge. EAD can also provide continual monitoring of
each endpoints traffic, installed software, running
processes, and registry changes.
MPLS/VPN Manager (MVM) module

To facilitate the administration of heterogeneous

private MPLS VPN connections, IMC offers the MPLS/
VPN Manager (MVM). This module allows you to
architecture, deploy network resources, monitor,
and manage the MPLS VPN network. The MVM
module provides management functions such as
VPN autodiscovery, topology, monitoring, auditing,
performance evaluation, VPN deployment, and service
deployment, enabling you to best allocate network
resources. VPNs can be either be manually added or
automatically discovered.

phones. VSM delivers exceptional value by reducing

system maintenance costs, improving productivity and
increasing user satisfaction.
Network Traffic Analyzer (NTA) module

The Network Traffic Analyzer (NTA) module provides

easy-to-understand network traffic monitoring
reports for a better understanding of your networks
bandwidth utilization. This graphical network
monitoring tool uses industry-supported traffic flow
standards to provide real-time information about
the top users and applications consuming network
bandwidth.
Wireless Service Manager (WSM) module

The IMC Wireless Service Manager (WSM)

module provides unified management of wired and
wireless networks. With this module, you can add
wireless network management functions into your
existing wired network management system instead
of establishing a new IT management platform,
safeguarding your legacy network investment from
obsolescence and reducing maintenance costs.
IPSec VPN Manager (IVM) module

The IPSec VPN Manager module reduces the

complexity of deploying, monitoring, and managing
IPSec virtual private networks. This module provides
detailed accounts of the health and performance
of the IPSec VPN, resulting in quicker problem
recognition and resolution, and reduced time
configuring and managing IPSec VPN devices.
Service Operations Manager (SOM) module

The Service Operations Manager module helps

information technology departments with workflow
management by providing control, measurement,
and audit capabilities around configuration changes,
fault identification, and recovery processes. Based
on a Universal Configuration Management Database
(UCMDB), SOM offers configurable flow management
and options for self-service, including knowledgebased creation and user kiosk capabilities.
Quality of Service Manager (QoSM) module

The QoSM module provides real-time network

detection of QoS configurations, enabling unified
Voice Services Manager (VSM) module
management of QoS policies. QoSM allows
Adding a Voice Services Manager (VSM) module
administrators to organize traffic into different
arms IMC with a comprehensive set of tools for easily
classes based on configurable criteria to provide
and efficiently managing converged voice and data
differentiated services as well as insight into committed
networks. The VSM module provides resource and
access rates, generic traffic shaping, priority marking,
service management for voice infrastructures, including and queue scheduling.
HP VCX Connect platforms, media gateways, and IP

Highlights of IMC management

Just a few of the single-pane-of-glass displays in IMC. Imagine how easy network management would be if you had tools like
these...

HP Intelligent Management
Center (IMC) v5.0 automatically
creates network topology
layouts, with high-speed
links shown as heavier lines
and features such as focused
zooming. Different colors for
active and offline devices
identify problem areas at a
glance.

You can customize IMCs home

page to show your choice of
displays, data, alarms, and
other important network and
device information.

With IMC, you have real-time

link management; this display
shows information about the
devices at each end of all
network links.

IMCs handy configuration

comparison tool is ideal
for copying device setup
parameters and ferreting
out problems caused by
misconfigured devices.

The Network Traffic Analyzer

add-on module gives you
real-time insight into the total
traffic flow between all network
applications.

The Network Traffic Analyzer

also lets you drill down to see
specific traffic flows based on
source, destination, session, or
TCP application.

10

Based on industry case examples where multiple tools

are replaced with singular, multifunction, multivendor
integrated management platforms, operational cost
savings can be dramatic. Some IT shops have reported
dramatic reductions in administrative resource
requirements, often halving staffing needs.3

Superior management for the

Instant-On Enterprise and a
changing network world
It only makes sense that if youre trying to reduce
complexity, depending on multiple tools is not the
best way to manage consolidation. Thats why
HPIMC is the choice of so many efficiency-focused
organizations. Standards-based IMC is the one
management tool that provides the integrated
toolset you need to architect, deploy, manage, and
maintain your network to meet todays challenges and
complexities. It pulls together wired, wireless, physical,
and virtual environments under a single management
umbrella. And it can reduce overhead costs while
freeing IT staff time for new initiatives and projects
that support business goals. Whether or not youre
aiming for an Instant-On Enterprise, HPIntelligent
Management Center is the answer for your network of
todayand tomorrow.

 even Priorities for Integrated Network Management: How HP Intelligent

S
Management Center Delivers an Enterprise-class Solution, ENTERPRISE
MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATES (EMA) white paper, March 2011.

11

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Copyright 2011 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only
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4AA3-4496ENW, Created May 2011