Voip Performance Management and Optimization (Paperback)

Business Applications (Voice over T1/E1/PRI/CAS) 58 IP Trunks 59 Session Border Controller (SBC) Models 62 Key Components Used in SBC Models 63 PSTN Offload 64 Network Hiding 65 Voice Security in Service Provider Networks 65 Securing VoIP Network Elements 65 Securing Call Signaling and the Media 66 Common Issues and Problems When Deploying IP-Based Telephony Services 66 Convergence-Related Issues 66 Issues in Media Affecting Quality 67 Issues in Signaling Affecting the Services and Features 67 IP Routing-Related Issues 67 High Availability and Convergence for Business Continuity 68 Summary 68 References 68 Chapter 4 Internet Telephony 69 Internet Telephony Deployment Model 70 Internet Telephony Network Elements 72 Internet Telephony Applications 73 PC-Based Software Voice Applications 73 ATA-Based Voice Applications 74 Traffic Profiling 74 Potential Bottlenecks 75 Wholesale VoIP Solution 75 Key Network Elements 77 Media Gateway Controller (MGC) 77 IP Transfer Point (ITP) 78 Route Server 78 Gatekeepers 79 Application Servers 79 Element Management Systems (EMS) 79 Wholesale Voice Applications 80 Prepaid and Postpaid Calling Solutions 80 Network Transit and Trunking Applications 82 Managed Services for Enterprises 83 Applications and Benefits for Service Providers 83 Common Issues and Problems with Internet Telephony 83 Last-Mile Connection Bandwidth 84 End Device/Application-Related Issues 85 No Customer Service-Level Agreements (SLA) 86 Issues with Emergency Calls (E911) 86 Security Issues 87 Summary 88 References 88 Chapter 5 VoIP Deployment Models in Enterprise Networks 89 Unified Communication Solution Components in Enterprise Networks 90 Unified Communications Manager/CallManager 90 Voice Gateways 91 Gatekeepers 92 Session Border Controller 93 Messaging Application 94 Rich Media Applications 95 Cisco Unified MeetingPlace and WebEx 95 Cisco Unified Presence 95 Cisco Emergency Responder 96 Cisco Unified Contact Center 97 Cisco Unified Application Environment 97 Common Enterprise Deployment Models 97 Centralized Call Processing 98 Distributed Call Processing 100 Hybrid Models 102 Common Issues and Problems 104 Convergence-Related Issues 104 Issues Affecting Media Quality 105 Voice-Signaling Protocol Impairments 106 Voice Security in Enterprise Converged Networks 106 Summary 107 References 107 Part III Performance and Optimization of VoIP Networks Chapter 6 Managing VoIP Networks 109 Requirements for Enabling Voice in IP Networks 109 Network Readiness Assessment 110 Network Design 110 Network Infrastructure Services 112 Network Links 113 Hardware and Software Considerations 114 Power and Environment 115 Auditing for VoIP Network Readiness 116 Analyzing Configurations, Versions, and Topology 117 Synthetic Traffic Tests 118 Managing Network Capacity Requirements 118 Voice Traffic Engineering Theory 119 Example of Estimating Capacity Requirements 119 Monitoring Network Resources 122 An Audit for Gauging the Current VoIP Network Utilization 122 Device Utilization 123 Link Utilization 124 Measurements for Network Transmission Loss Plan 124 Effectively Monitoring the Network 127 Discovery-Complete Picture 128 Seed Devices for Network Discovery 129 Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) Discovery 129 Routing Table Discovery 130 ARP Discovery 130 Routing Protocol-OSPF Discovery 130 Ping Sweep Discovery 130 Seed Files 131 Voice Quality Metrics 131 MOS or K-factor 132 PSQM 132 PESQ 133 Approaches to Measure Jitter, Latency, and Packet Loss in the IP Network 133 Using Call Detail Records for Voice Quality Metrics 133 Using IP-SLA and RTTMON for Voice Quality Metrics 134 Using Cisco NetFlow for Measuring Voice Quality Metrics 135 Round-Trip Delay Measurement 136 Voice Jitter/Frame Slip Measurements 137 Measurement of Effective Bandwidth 137 Voice Band Gain Measurement 137 Silence Noise level Measurement 138 Voice Clipping 138 Echo Measurements 138 Voice-Signaling Protocol Impairments in IP Networks 139 How to Effectively Poll the Network 140 Polling Strategy 141 Key Alarms and Events Monitoring 143 SNMP Configuration and Setting 143 Basic Configuration 144 SNMP Trap Settings 144 Traps Use Case BTS 10200 Cisco Softswitch 144 Standard Polling Intervals and Traps 145 Scenario 1: Phones Unregistering from Unified CM and Reregistering to SRST Router Because of WAN Link Outage 145 Scenario 2: Phones Unregistering from the Unified CM and Reregistering to the SRST Router Because of WAN Congestion 146 Using eXtensible Markup Language (XML) for Polling and Extraction of Key Information 147 XML Overview 148 XML APIs 149 Using the Syslog/Trace Logs for Deep Analysis 150 Alarm and Event Audit and Correlation 151 Effectively Monitoring the PSTN Bearer Traffic 153 QoS in VoIP Networks 155 Defining a QoS Methodology 155 Differentiated Services (Diff Serv) for Applying QoS 155 Using Bandwidth/Resource Reservation and Call Admission Control (CAC) for Providing QoS 157 Managing QoS 157 PacketCable Use Case 159 Trouble Ticketing (TT) Systems 162 Identifying and Streamlining the Categories of Trouble Tickets 162 Correlating the TT to the Service Uptime 162 Summary 163 References 164 Chapter 7 Performance Analysis and Fault Isolation 167 Proactive Monitoring Through Performance Counters 168 Classification of Performance Counters 168 Network Device KPIs 168 Functional- or Services-Based Grouping of KPIs 169 Fault Isolation-Based Grouping of KPIs 173 Protocol-Based Grouping of KPIs 174 SLA Tracking Through KPIs 175 Equipment-Based Grouping of KPIs 177 Collection 177 Alarm Processing 178 Correlation 179 Simple Correlation 180 Advanced Correlation 180 Complex Correlations 181 Recommendations for VoIP-Centric Network Management Framework 182 Performance Analysis from a Transit Network Perspective 183 Signaling Protocol Transport Optimization 184 Enterprise Networks 184 Cisco IOS QoS Recommended SNMP Polling Guidelines 187 Case Study of Link Congestions 187 SP Networks 194 Performance Data in an Enterprise VoIP Environment 197 CPU Status 198 Physical Memory 198 Hard Disk Status 199 High Utilization of Disk Space 199 Virtual Memory 199 Number of Active Phones 200 Gateway Registration (MGCP) 200 Gatekeeper Registration (H.323 RAS) 200 Calls in Progress 201 Calls Active 201 Calls Attempted 202 Calls Completed 202 PRI Channels Active 203 Conferencing/Transcoding DSP's Depletion 203 Available Bandwidth of a Location (CAC) 204 Recommendations for Categorizing Performance Measurements 204 Enterprise Case Study-Analyzing Network Performance 206 CPU Rate and Critical Processes 206 Rate of Active Calls 207 Tracking Trunk Utilization for PSTN Access 208 Trend Analysis Best Practices 211 Performance Analysis from Call Agent Perspective 211 Performance Analysis for VoIP Call Traffic 211 Performance Analysis for a PSTN Network (PSTN Trunk and SS7 Signaling) 215 Performance Analysis for an SIP Network 217 Performance Tracking for a Session Border Controller (SBC) 218 Performance Information Through the Call Detail Records (CDR) 219 Performance Enhancement Schemes and Their Effect on VoIP Network Monitoring 220 Effect of DNS Caching 220 Server Load Balancing 220 Firewall 220 Optimizing the SBC 221 Performance Analysis from a DOCSIS Network 221 VoIP Endpoints 222 DOCSIS/DQoS 224 CPU Impact/Link Utilization 226 Trace Log Monitoring on Softswitch and Network Devices 229 Analyzing and Correlating Syslog Messages 230 Log Files Management 231 Security 231 Storage Location (Local Versus Remote) and Archiving Logs 233 Tools and Scripts 234 Tools for Monitoring an Enterprise VoIP Network 234 Cisco Unified Operations Manager (CUOM) 234 Cisco Unified Service Manager 236 Cisco Unified Service Statistics Manager 237 Tools for Monitoring Service Provider VoIP Networks 239 IXIA's IxRave Solution 239 IxRave Case Study-Voice Assurance for Cable Networks 240 Tools for Monitoring DOCSIS Networks-VoIP Dashboard 242 Tools for Monitoring VoIP Network Health Through Protocols 244 Tools for Analyzing Call Detail Records 246 SP CDR Report Scenario 246 Customizing CDR Reporting for Effective Monitoring 247 Dashboard Views for the VoIP Network 247 Software Maintenance 248 Software Release Management 249 Software Lifecycle Management 249 Software Resiliency 251 Periodic Auditing of a VoIP Network 251 Summary 254 References 254 Chapter 8 Trend Analysis and Optimization 257 Trend Analysis Through Key Metrics 258 Dashboard as a Profiling Tool 259 Network Utilization and Efficiency 260 Safeguarding Network Resources from Potential Security Threats 261 Dashboard for Trunk Resources Utilization 265 Feedback for Change Control 266 Profiling in an SP VoIP Network 271 Profiling in an Enterprise VoIP Network 277 Balancing the Device Load on CUCM Cluster Nodes 278 Maximizing Trunk Capacity and Avoiding Call Blocking 280 Call Detail Record-Based Trend Analysis 283 Benchmarking 283 Verifying VoIP Network Resources Capacity 284 SLA Conformance 286 Monitoring for Service Availability 286 Normal Versus Abnormal Termination Profiling: Categorizing and Correlating the Call Termination Code 288 Monitoring for Service Quality 289 Verifying Toll Savings (On-net Versus Off-net Profiling) 289 Detecting Toll Frauds 291 Resource Optimization and Capacity Planning 291 Network Resource Utilization and Optimization 291 Capacity Planning and Upgrade Strategies 296 Managing Subscriber Growth Impact by Using Trend Analysis 298 UC Manager Cluster Capacity 298 Network Bandwidth and Transcoding DSPs 299 Considerations for Adding Trunk Capacity 302 Summary 302 References 302 Part IV Appendixes Appendix A Scripts and Tools for Monitoring and Troubleshooting VoIP Networks 305 Appendix B Detailed Call Flows 331 Appendix C VoIP Dashboard 367 Appendix D Debugs, Traces, and Logs 373 9781587055287 TOC 7/1/2010

Practice, he worked with Cisco partners in planning, designing, and deploying IP telephony solutions for large enterprise customers. Currently he is working on developing service offerings for Communication/Collaboration Enabled Business Process (CEBP) solutions and service delivery tools. Talal holds BSEE and MBA degrees and is a CCIE.