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Recently, a friend in network operations asked me: When the number of devices to be maintained is very large, even over 10,000, how should we approach maintenance?

I’m not sure how many devices you, as network operations professionals, usually deal with, but this question is likely something many of you think about in your work.

In a vast array of devices, each one is like a node in the network, and its status, performance, and security are constantly affecting the health and stability of the entire network.

At this scale, traditional maintenance methods are insufficient. What we need is a new, more systematic, and automated maintenance strategy. This is not only to cope with the growing number of devices but also to improve the efficiency and quality of maintenance, ensuring that our network runs stably, securely, and efficiently.

Today, let’s discuss how to handle maintenance when the number of devices exceeds 10,000.

Key Steps and Solutions

For the maintenance and management of over 10,000 network devices, a systematic, automated, and efficient management strategy is required.

1 Hierarchical Management and Scientific Division

With over 10,000 network devices, the biggest fear is management chaos.

To maintain efficiently, the first step is hierarchical management. Divide network devices into different functional layers (core layer, aggregation layer, access layer), each with clear responsibilities.

• Core Layer: The highway for data transmission, ensuring high availability and load balancing.
• Aggregation Layer: Responsible for regional management, unified configuration, and policy deployment.
• Access Layer: Directly connected to terminals, managing the widest user traffic.

By dividing into layers, management tasks are handled methodically rather than overwhelming.

2 Automation Tools are Crucial

With over 10,000 devices, manual processing is nearly impossible; automation tools are essential. Common network operations tools include:

• Zabbix, Nagios: For device monitoring and traffic analysis, detecting faults promptly.
• Ansible, Puppet, SaltStack: Automation configuration management tools, enabling batch configuration deployment and eliminating the need for manual configuration of each device.
• NetFlow, sFlow: Real-time traffic monitoring tools, analyzing network traffic to find potential issues.

Automation tools not only improve efficiency but also prevent human errors, ensuring maintenance quality.

3 Regular Maintenance and Health Checks

With a large number of devices, the network’s health status is hard to grasp.

Regular health checks and maintenance plans are crucial:

• Routine Inspection: Use tools for automated inspections, checking the operational status of network devices, focusing on parameters like CPU, memory, and port traffic.
• Firmware Upgrades: Regularly check device firmware versions to ensure the latest secure versions are used, preventing risks from security vulnerabilities.
• Backup Strategy: Regularly back up configurations of core devices to quickly restore in case of failure, reducing downtime.

Regular checks and maintenance effectively prevent potential issues and reduce sudden faults.

4 Real-time Alerts and Quick Response

With 10,000 devices, traditional fault diagnosis speed may not meet actual needs. Real-time alert systems and quick response mechanisms are essential.

• Alert Threshold Setting: Set reasonable alert thresholds based on device performance; the system automatically sends alert emails or SMS when anomalies occur.
• Quick Response Process: Pre-established SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) enable the operations team to react swiftly, locate issues, and resolve them quickly.

Real-time alert systems prevent issues from worsening, while response mechanisms shorten fault handling time.

5 Data-driven Decision Support

While maintaining 10,000 devices, data analysis is crucial. Operations logs, monitoring data, and traffic statistics help the operations team identify network bottlenecks and optimize performance:

• Traffic Analysis: Identify peak traffic periods, allocate bandwidth resources reasonably, avoiding congestion.
• Fault Trend Analysis: Through data accumulation, find patterns in device faults, performing preventive maintenance in advance.
• Device Lifecycle Management: Monitor device operational lifespans, updating old devices timely to avoid affecting overall network performance.

Data-driven operations decisions not only enhance network performance but also reduce long-term maintenance costs.

6 Cybersecurity Management is Indispensable

In large-scale network device maintenance, security is paramount. Especially with 10,000 devices, any security vulnerability can trigger a chain reaction, causing significant losses.

Therefore, cybersecurity management should focus on:

• Firewall Policies and Intrusion Prevention: Set strict firewall policies for each network layer, blocking unauthorized access, and using intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDS/IPS) to respond to potential threats immediately.
• Device Permission Management: Implement hierarchical permission management for all network devices, ensuring only authorized users can operate core devices. Use two-factor authentication to enhance security further.
• Regular Security Audits: Regularly review device configurations, network traffic, and access logs to ensure the network is not compromised or has other security risks.

Cybersecurity management is an uncompromising aspect of large-scale maintenance. Continuous monitoring of the entire network using automation tools minimizes potential threats.

07 Personnel Training is the Soft Power of Maintenance

In such a vast network architecture, tools and technology alone are not enough; personnel capabilities are equally critical. Each member of the operations team should have sufficient skills and knowledge to handle complex network issues:

• Technical Training: Conduct regular technical training for operations personnel, including network protocols, device operations, and automation tool usage. Continuous cybersecurity training is essential to prevent security incidents from human errors.
• Emergency Drills: Regularly organize network fault simulation drills, familiarizing the operations team with the process of handling sudden issues, ensuring efficient collaboration in critical moments.
• Team Collaboration: Emphasize collaboration within the operations team, ensuring each member understands their responsibilities and roles, forming an efficient collaborative network, avoiding bottlenecks.

Training a professional operations team effectively enhances overall network management levels, ensuring smooth handling of various emergencies.

09 Introducing Visual Management Tools to Enhance Global Control

With 10,000 network devices, grasping the entire situation through traditional methods is nearly impossible. The introduction of network visual management tools is crucial.

Visual tools not only help you see the distribution of network devices but also dynamically display the status, traffic, and security risks of each device:

• Network Topology Visualization: Real-time display of network topology, showing connections between all devices clearly. If a device fails, the operations team can quickly locate and address it.
• Fault Alert Visualization: Systematically display each alert through charts and dashboards, allowing operations personnel to quickly view the health status of all critical devices.
• Security Incident Visualization: Visual tools present security incident information, including occurrence time, source, and impact range, enabling operations personnel to respond swiftly.

Common visual tools include SolarWinds, PRTG, and Nagios XI, helping to make complex maintenance tasks visual and automated, reducing management difficulty and improving efficiency.

Maintaining over 10,000 devices sounds like a huge challenge, but with hierarchical management, automation tools, regular maintenance, quick response, data-driven decisions, and related measures, the task can be handled systematically.

I hope the ideas and methods shared today help you handle large-scale network architecture maintenance more confidently.

Try using these methods to improve your maintenance efficiency and ensure the stable operation and security of your network system.