Operational Matters and Production Hardening#
Operating Parameters#
NBI runs as a standalone Ubuntu appliance, as a virtual machine, and as such it is relatively autonomous and low maintenance. Certain operational and support arrangements are required and these are put into place as part of the go-live process.
On sign-in to the console, a health report indicates the system status.
The table describes the arrangements for operation in a production environment:
Component |
Description |
|---|---|
Support |
Support services are provided directly from the VOSS Service Desk, where calls can be logged during normal business hours, either over a telephone or through the VOSS Customer Portal [https://voss.portalshape.com]. All calls are logged and assigned an Incident Number (VSR-XXXXX). |
Access control |
Access to NBI is protected and requires a user to enter their VOSS Automate login credentials. |
Service Monitoring and Troubleshooting |
NBI continually monitors a number of conditions and generates events (SNMP Traps) whenever a condition is detected. Events are categorized into three levels (Error, Warn and Info) with the default level being set at Error. Events are configured to be sent to the provider’s Network Operations Centre. The SNMP alarm definitions are included in the Appendix. Detailed logs are also provided for troubleshooting and are available from the CLI. |
Payload Monitoring |
Message tracking displays are configured on both NBI and VOSS Automate to provide display and tracking of billing payloads being sent to the northbound system. Status information is provided on send and processing failures. |
Backup and Restore |
Any information required for NBI is backed up as part of the normal VOSS Automate backup process. A backup copy of the NBI configuration information should be taken after the initial installation. |
Monitoring from the NBI GUI#
All payload activity is logged in the Tracking Table and this may be viewed from the NBI GUI. This provides a quick and easy mechanism to check activity on the NBI.
Early Life Support#
On completion of a provider’s operational readiness testing, NBI will be formally handed over by VOSS under change control, along with updated documentation (‘as built’). Knowledge transfer sessions are held as required.
Early life project support is then provided for a further four (4) weeks.