When every business (and network) grows physically, you will eventually face the same situation: Your network that you’re used to managing and once understood becomes a complicated network of routers, switches, firewalls, and servers, all deployed in various ways by the different user responsible at the time. Without a plan, this complexity can quickly snowball and leads to security risks, downtime and a myriad of problems that can be difficult to troubleshoot. This is exactly the kind of problem network configuration management exists to solve.
The chaos most IT teams know all too well.
In contrast, imagine a system with each device maintaining their own notion of history, in an undocumented manner if at all. A previous switch was set up by an employee 2 years ago. One was modified on an emergency patch at 2am and not looked at again. The reason being that this times dozens or hundreds of devices and equals an infrastructure that, in some ways, becomes impossible to audit, secure, or troubleshoot efficiently.
This confusion is not only a nuisance – it is in fact dangerous. When everything works out, everything works out, but when it doesn’t, and in cases of inconsistent configurations, security vulnerabilities exist and IT personnel scramble to figure out what configuration has changed and when.
The facts and figures of this practice.
In a nutshell, it’s the process of monitoring, managing and controlling network elements such as devices, policies and configuration on a network on a systematic basis. It doesn’t manage them as individual islands but creates a common process to make, document and review changes throughout the network.
This is usually achieved by automatically keeping a record of the current settings, logging the changes that have been made over time and implementing consistency throughout similar devices. When carried out correctly, any member of the team with the authority to use the system will be able to view the system and understand what’s deployed, why it is deployed that way, and who authorized it to be deployed that way.
Manual approaches are inefficient due to the possibility of errors, are slow, and are not easy to sustain.
In many smaller organisations they start to manually configure devices, meaning one-by-one logging into each device to configure them. It is great for a few devices, but is not feasible in large networks.
Manual processes can introduce humans errors and if something isn’t completed or written down correctly, it can cause significant problems. If there isn’t a centralized system, finding out what causes an outage can be aggravating and a long poker game.
Introducing structure by means of central control
The first step in centralizing the chaos to order is to create a single repository to store, track, and update configurations. A centralized system provides IT teams with a live view of the network’s state rather than using disjointed notes or a memory of what they have seen.
This centralization also makes it possible to track changes like software developers do in code, which is called version control. Should an intended configuration of the system create new problems, teams can easily switch back to an older, known-working state without manual changes under pressure on a number of devices.
The Role of Automation
As of now, the trends are on the side of modern methods, which are increasingly automating, to ease the strain of manual supervision work. Auto push configurations to several devices at once; uniformity of parameters without forcing manual work on each individual device.
Automation has an important function to play with compliance and security, too. Managed audits can be set up to automatically alert teams to any configuration drift events — where devices have moved away from approved configurations — and also to correct issues before they pose a potential security risk or lead to performance problems.
Increasing security by adding consistency.
One of the biggest security issues in the enterprise network is the inconsistent settings. Even with extremely robust security measures on the rest of the network, a single wrong firewall rule or an outdated access control policy can make a network vulnerable to attack.
Organizations’ attack surface is drastically reduced with enforced standardized configurations on all devices. Tight security policies are also enforced across the board, by performing regular audits and automated compliance checks that ensure that these policies are not weakened over time by changes.
Manuals and documentation are becoming increasingly important resources as they help streamline troubleshooting and minimize downtime.
If there are any problems on a managed network, their detection will take much less time. Knowing which changes were made and when they took place helps the IT teams locate changes that were made recently and whether it is related to the issue at hand.
This guided transparency significantly cuts down downtime during incidents, as teams won’t have to guess and more quickly focus on making the right fixes with proper, on hand information.
Getting Started: Practical First Steps
Setting up network configuration management to replace the ad hoc approach requires identifying existing devices and writing down all of the ad hoc configurations. From there, it is possible to develop common template devices to help the standardizations of new ones ahead.
Implementing change approval systems (simple ones) will help to ensure change is reviewed properly before carried out. As the organisation continues to grow, automation tools gradually be added as it frees up more time from manual work while making the process more reliable.
Sustaining Long-Term Order
The network needs to be structured and it is not a one-time task; it requires discipline. By performing regular audits, continuously improving documentation and periodically assessing standardized templates the system is not allowed to fall back into disarray over time.
Those who view it as an ongoing process, as opposed to just one cleanup, reap more consistently stable, secure and efficient networks for the long haul.
Bringing It All Together
The transition from a disintegrating, erratic network to a consistent, orderly one isn’t easy or quick, but with this transition comes significant benefit. Businesses of all sizes can benefit from the investment, as the ability to respond more quickly to issues, minimize security threats and operate with more confidence all make a difference. Even the noisiest network setup can be made into a centralized tracking, standardized process, and resilient network with proper network configuration management.
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