What is NMS software? | Definition

A NMS (Network Management System) is a network management system and more generally a information system. The NMS is used to monitor network activity as well as servers and applications.
The term can be used for the entire system (Software and Hardware) but is often limited to software.

Among the features offered by NMS software are:

• Real-time network monitoring: Periodic collection of different indicators (disk occupancy rate, CPU usage, bandwidth, etc.) and comparison of their value with thresholds. Identification of a threshold crossing and therefore of a "change of state" and creation of an alarm.
• Metrology management: Storage and indexing of collecting indicator values for failure investigation as well as trend analysis and capacity planning.
• Notification: Presentation of supervisory information in a condensed and operational way to facilitate incident management and resolution. Provision of tools for investigation and management of resolution workflows.
• Mapping: Synoptic representation of the network with the possibility of navigating from maps to sub-maps.

NMS software is at the heart of NOCs (Network Operation Center) and enterprise operating platforms. It makes it possible to identify a malfunction or anomaly as soon as possible and to correct it.