A typical network management architecture maintains many relationships. The ISO has contributed a great deal to network standardization. Their network management model is the primary means for understanding the major functions of network management systems. The goal of performance management is to measure and make available various aspects of network performance so that internetwork performance can be maintained at an acceptable level. Examples of performance variables that might be provided include network throughput, user response times, and line utilization.
Performance management involves three main steps.
First, performance data is gathered on variables of interest to network administrators. Finally, appropriate performance thresholds are determined for each important variable so that exceeding these thresholds indicates a network problem worthy of attention. Management entities continually monitor performance variables. When a performance threshold is exceeded, an alert is generated and sent to the network management system. Each of the steps just described is part of the process to set up a reactive system.