Engineering Guide 2 umts network

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Title page

Alcatel-Lucent

NPO Engineering Guide | M4

NPO DocumentUser Guide

npoenggnpoengg

3BK174465123PGZZAIssue 1

March 2011

Alcatel-Lucent – ProprietaryUse pursuant to applicable agreements



Legal notice

Legal notice

Alcatel, Lucent, Alcatel-Lucent and the Alcatel-Lucent logo are trademarks of Alcatel-Lucent. All other trademarks are the property of their respective

owners.

The information presented is subject to change without notice. Alcatel-Lucent assumes no responsibility for inaccuracies contained herein.

Copyright © 2011 Alcatel-Lucent. All rights reserved.

Contains proprietary/trade secret information which is the property of Alcatel-Lucent and must not be made available to, or copied or used by anyone outside

Alcatel-Lucent without its written authorization.

Not to be used or disclosed except in accordance with applicable agreements.




Contents

Preface

Purpose ............................................................................................................................................................................................. xixi

Reason for revision ...................................................................................................................................................................... xixi

Document pertinence ................................................................................................................................................................... xixi

Audience .......................................................................................................................................................................................... xixi

Assumed knowledge .................................................................................................................................................................... xixi

Product names .............................................................................................................................................................................. xiixii

How to comment ......................................................................................................................................................................... xiixii

1 NPO Architecture

Overview ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 1-11-1

Presentation ................................................................................................................................................................................. 1-11-1

2 NPO hardware solutions

Overview ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 2-12-1

NPO without WCT or PCMD option ................................................................................................................................ 2-12-1

NPO with WCT option ........................................................................................................................................................... 2-42-4

NPO with PCMD option ........................................................................................................................................................ 2-62-6

NPO with WCT and PCMD option .................................................................................................................................... 2-72-7

NPO X86 hardware description ........................................................................................................................................... 2-82-8

SPARC Servers ....................................................................................................................................................................... 2-102-10

Citrix server requirements ................................................................................................................................................... 2-132-13

Automatic Storage Management ...................................................................................................................................... 2-132-13

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3 Hardware availability

Overview ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 3-13-1

Hardware redundancy strategy ............................................................................................................................................ 3-13-1

NPO nominal and recovery mode ....................................................................................................................................... 3-43-4

SAM redundancy support ...................................................................................................................................................... 3-53-5

NPO redundancy ....................................................................................................................................................................... 3-53-5

4 Capacity considerations

Overview ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 4-14-1

Overview ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 4-14-1

Number of users ........................................................................................................................................................................ 4-24-2

2G dimensioning information .............................................................................................................................................. 4-34-3



Multi-techno dimensioning ................................................................................................................................................... 4-44-4

5 Miscellaneous

Overview ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 5-15-1

Discontinued hardware ........................................................................................................................................................... 5-15-1

Minimum throughput requirements ................................................................................................................................... 5-15-1

Interface information ............................................................................................................................................................... 5-25-2

Hardware partitioning ............................................................................................................................................................ 5-65-6

6 Migration paths and hardware upgrades

Overview......................................................................................................................................................................................

6-16-1

Migration without hardware change .................................................................................................................................. 6-16-1

Migration with hardware change ........................................................................................................................................ 6-26-2

Hardware upgrades ................................................................................................................................................................... 6-36-3

7 Backup and restore solutions

Overview ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 7-17-1

Scope.............................................................................................................................................................................................

7-17-1

Contents

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Policy and scheduling .............................................................................................................................................................. 7-27-2

Backup/restore solution on Solaris ..................................................................................................................................... 7-27-2

Backup/restore solution on Linux ....................................................................................................................................... 7-37-3

8 Client

Overview ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 8-18-1

......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 8-18-1

9 Network Time Synchronization

Overview ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 9-19-1

......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 9-19-1

About NTP functionality ........................................................................................................................................................ 9-29-2

Compatibility .............................................................................................................................................................................. 9-39-3

Time source selections ............................................................................................................................................................ 9-39-3

Redundancy and resiliency .................................................................................................................................................... 9-39-3

Default behavior of WMS or NPO main server under outage conditions ............................................................9-39-3

Recommended NTP architecture ......................................................................................................................................... 9-49-4

Using public time sources over internet ........................................................................................................................... 9-49-4

NTP accuracy and network design requirements .......................................................................................................... 9-59-5

NTP resource usage considerations .................................................................................................................................... 9-59-5

Contents

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Contents

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List of tables

2-1 Configurations based on HP hardware (recommended for new deployment) ..................................... 2-22-2

2-2 Configurations based on existing SPARC hardware M4000 and T5220 .............................................. 2-32-3







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List of tables

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List of figures

2-1 NPO without auxiliary server ............................................................................................................................... 2-22-2

2-2 NPO with auxiliary server ...................................................................................................................................... 2-22-2

2-3 NPO with WCT support (48K configuration) ................................................................................................. 2-42-4

2-4 NPO with WCT support (1500 cells configuration) .....................................................................................2-52-5

2-5 NPO with PCMD support (48K configuration) .............................................................................................. 2-62-6

2-6 System controller connectivity ........................................................................................................................... 2-112-11

2-7 M4000 with System controller and ST2540 connectivity ........................................................................2-122-12

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List of figures

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PrefacePreface

Purpose

This document provides detailed information about:

• The engineering rules for the NPO Servers

• OAM Server hardware/software requirements

• Backup and restore

• Remote access

• Other OAM engineering information for the NPO.

Reason for revision

Refer to the following Editions for a list of technical and editorial updates to the current

guide.

In Edition 01

First official release of document for Release M4.1.

Document pertinence

This document applies to NPO M4.1.

Audience

This document is intended for:

• Network engineers

• Installation engineers

• Network & System Administrators.

Assumed knowledge

You must be familiar with:

• Oracle hardware

• HP hardware

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xi



Product names

The generic term NPO refers to all NPO types. When a case applies to a specific NPO,

the type of NPO is clearly indicated.

How to comment

Preface

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1 1NPO Architecture

Overview

Purpose

This section provides an overview of the NPO architecture.

Contents

Presentation 1-1

Presentation

The NPO offers a full range of multi-standard QoS Monitoring and radio network

optimization facilities:

• Powerful Graphical User Interface supporting all efficient use of the NPO functions

• QoS analysis

• QoS decrease cause diagnosis

• Radio resource configuration tuning

• Cartographic telecom management

• Manage hardware inventory

• Customizing

This product includes a powerful Oracle database containing performance measurements

and calculated indicators.

The NPO is an option that offers a full range of QoS Monitoring and radio network

optimization facilities. It requires a dedicated server in the LAN with access to

applications from a PC Client.

The NPO retrieves the counters files available in the Alcatel-Lucent OMC. The loading of

PM files is managed continuously according the availability of the files within the OMC

server. In addition, the Network configuration (topology) is uploaded from the WMS

server.

The NPO provides two options that impact the hardware configuration:

• The NPO PCMD option (for LTE)...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................



1-1



This option is used for processing the PCMD data coming from the MME.

• The NPO WCT option (for W-CDMA)

This option is used for processing the CTN/CFT call trace data coming from the RNC(via the WMS).

The NPO runs on the:

• Solaris SPARC server, based on Sun V490, T5220 and M4000.

• HP X86 RedHat Linux server (starting from NPO 4.1), based on HP DL380 G7 and

DL580 G7.

The NPO supports OMCs managing:

• GSM network (OMC-R)

• W-CDMA network (WMS)

• LTE network (SAM)

NPO Architecture Presentation

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2 2NPO hardware solutions

Overview

Purpose

This chapter presents an overview of the hardware and is not intended to be directly used

for ordering. Refer to the Product Configuration List (PCL) for ordering information.

Contents

NPO without WCT or PCMD option 2-1

NPO with WCT option 2-4

NPO with PCMD option 2-6

NPO with WCT and PCMD option 2-7

NPO X86 hardware description 2-8SPARC Servers 2-10

Citrix server requirements 2-13

Automatic Storage Management 2-13

NPO without WCT or PCMD option

This section applies to GSM, W-CDMA or LTE.

The NPO is composed of:• A main server

This server supports the oracle database and the reporting functions.

• One optional QoS auxiliary server.

This server hosts the loading process that converts 3GPP PM files into a format thatcan be directly loaded into NPO Oracle tables.

Only the main server stores data. The auxiliary servers only store files while they are

being loaded. The backup and restore procedure only applies to the main server.

The following figures show the NPO with and without an auxiliary server.

...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................



2-1



Refer to the following tables for specific information about the various configurations.

Table 2-1 Configurations based on HP hardware (recommended for new

deployment)

Configuration Users Main

server

Auxiliary

server

QoS

Auxiliary

server

WCT

Auxiliary

server

PCMD

Total

power

Total

height

3000 cells, QoS only 15 1 HP

small

0 0 0 850W 2U

Figure 2-1 NPO without auxiliary server

Figure 2-2 NPO with auxiliary server

NPO hardware solutions NPO without WCT or PCMD option

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deployment) (continued)


server

Auxiliary

server

QoS

Auxiliary

server

WCT

Auxiliary

server

PCMD

Total

power

Total

height

12000 cells, QoS only 45 1 HP

medium

0 0 0 1135W 4U

48000 cells, QoS only 120 1 HP XL 1 HP aux 0 0 3169W 14U

Table 2-2 Configurations based on existing SPARC hardware M4000 and T5220


server

Auxiliary

server

QoS

Auxiliary

server

WCT

Auxiliary

server

PCMD

Total

power

Total

height

1400 cells, QoS only 5 1

T5220

0 0 0 625W 2U


M4000-2

0 0 0 893W 8U


M4000-4

0 0 0 1007W 10U

Note: The following rules apply:

• Cells can be a mix of 3G and 4G cells

• Users refers to concurrent users using the analysis desktop. Use of the external

export interface is not considered when counting concurrent users.

• The HP hardware is dimensioned to support more users than SPARC (for the same

number of cells).

• The HP is dimensioned with extra disk space as compared to the SPARC, to

handle more future growth.

• Assuming a standard rack of 42U, it is always possible to put two NPO systems in

the same rack.

• If the SAM has an auxiliary server, the NPO retrieves PM from the SAM auxiliaryserver and CM from the SAM main server.

NPO hardware solutions NPO without WCT or PCMD option

....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................



2-3



NPO with WCT option

Note: This section is applicable only to W-CDMA.

The W-CDMA Call Trace (WCT) option allows the NPO to upload CTN and CFT call

traces from the WMS and process them. When this option is activated, two additional

modules start on the NPO server:

• The WCT Controller retrieves the list of CTN/CFT files to be uploaded from the

WMS

• The WCT loader (referred to as LOLA) processes the CTN/CFT file.

For a 1500 cells configuration, the additional module runs on the same server.

Above 1500 cells, this WCT loader must run on a dedicated auxiliary server(s): one

auxiliary server per 24000 cells.

The following figures show the different types of WCT support.

Figure 2-3 NPO with WCT support (48K configuration)

NPO hardware solutions NPO with WCT option

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deployment)


server

Auxiliary

server

QoS

Auxiliary

server

WCT

Auxiliary

server

PCMD

Total

power

Total

height

1500 cells, QoS +WCT 7 1 HPsmall 0 0 0 850W 2U

12000 cells, QoS +

WCT

45 1 HP

medium

0 1 HP aux 0 1985W 4U

48000 cells, QoS +

WCT

120 1 HP XL 1 HP aux 2 HP aux 0 4869W 14U



server

Auxiliary

serverQoS

Auxiliary

serverWCT

Auxiliary

serverPCMD

Total

power

Total

height

9000 cells, QoS +

WCT

27 1

M4000-2

0 1 HP aux 0 1693W 10U

18000 cells, QoS +

WCT only

38 1

M4000-4

0 1 HP aux 0 1807W 12U

Figure 2-4 NPO with WCT support (1500 cells configuration)

NPO hardware solutions NPO with WCT option

....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................



2-5



NPO with PCMD option

Note: This section is applicable only to LTE.

Compared to the regular NPO, the NPO PCMD requires:

• A connection to the MME (from both the NPO main server and the NPO auxiliary

servers)

• For 12K cells and above, NPO auxiliary server(s) dedicated to PCMD.

The following figure shows the different types of PCMD support.



deployment)


server

Auxiliary

server

QoS

Auxiliary

server

WCT

Auxiliary

server

PCMD

Total

power

Total

height

1500 cells, QoS +

PCMD

7 1 HP

small

0 0 0 850W 2U

12000 cells, QoS +

PCMD

45 1 HP

medium

0 0 1 HP aux 1985W 6U

48000 cells, QoS +

WCT or PCMD

120 1 HP XL 1 HP aux 2 HP aux 0 4869W 18U

Figure 2-5 NPO with PCMD support (48K configuration)

NPO hardware solutions NPO with PCMD option

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server

Auxiliary

server

QoS

Auxiliary

server

WCT

Auxiliary

server

PCMD

Total

power

Total

height

9000 cells, QoS +

PCMD

27 1

M4000-2

0 0 1 HP aux 1693W 10U

18000 cells, QoS +

PCMD only

38 1

M4000-4

0 0 1 HP aux 1807W 12U

NPO with WCT and PCMD option

An auxiliary server must be dedicated to either PCMD or WCT.

Refer to the following tables for specific information about the supported configurations.


deployment)


server

Auxiliary

server

QoS

Auxiliary

server

WCT or

PCMD

Total

power

Total

height

1500 cells, QoS + WCT +

PCMD

7 1 HP small 0 0 850W 2U


PCMD

45 1 HP

medium

0 2 HP aux 1985W 10U

48000 cells, QoS + WCT 120 1 HP XL 0 3 HP aux

(assuming

24K LTE

cells and

24K

W-CDMA

cells)

4869W 18U



server

Auxiliary

server

QoS

Auxiliary

server

WCT or

PCMD

Total

power

Total

height


PCMD

7 1 HP small 0 0 850W 2U


PCMD

45 1 HP

medium

0 2 HP aux 1985W 10U

NPO hardware solutions NPO with PCMD option

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2-7




(continued)


server

Auxiliary

server

QoS

Auxiliary

server

WCT orPCMD

Total

power

Total

height

48000 cells, QoS + WCT 120 1 HP XL 0 3 HP aux

(assuming

24K LTE

cells and

24K

W-CDMA

cells)

4869W 18U

NPO X86 hardware description

For a better performance, it is recommended to use the X86 servers which are based on

the new HP Generation 7 processor units.

HP DL 380

The DL380 G7 configuration consists of three base configurations:

• DL 380 small configuration

• Medium configuration and auxiliary configuration.

• Auxiliary configuration.

The differences between the servers concerns the number of processors used, RAM

memory or the external disk array connection.

All of the DL380 G7 server are Intel based processor servers that are part of HP

Generation 7 servers.

DL 380 S

Base hardware

CPU 1 * 2.93 GHz Xeon X5670 ProcessorsRAM 36 GB

Hard disk 12 * 600GB 6G SAS 10K internal disk

Note: This hardware is the same as the HP auxiliary server but with only one CPU.

The server height is 2U. The power needed is 850W.

DL 380 M

Base hardware

CPU 2 * 2.93 GHz Xeon X5670 Processors

NPO hardware solutions NPO with WCT and PCMD option

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Base hardware

RAM 72 GB


2*120GB 3G SATA 2.5in internal disk SSD

HP 2600 Disk Enclosure, 12*600-GB

The server height is 4U (2U for the DL380 itself and 2U for the disk bay). The power

needed is 1135W (850W for DL380 itself, 285W for the disk bay).

DL 380 Aux

Base hardware


RAM 36 GB


HP DL 580

The DL580 server includes one XLarge configuration based on the Intel processor and

includes an external disk array.

The estimated database size for the Oracle database is 5 Tb for 48000 cells. The NPO also

requires additional disk space for various other files.

Base hardware


RAM 256 GB


6 * 120GB 3G SATA 2.5in internal disk SSD

HP 2600 Disk Enclosure, 48*600-GB

The server height is 12U (4U for the DL580 itself and 4 * 2U for the disk bays). The power needed is 1179W for DL580 and 285W for each disk bay, therefore the total power

is 2319W.

NPO hardware solutions NPO X86 hardware description

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2-9



SPARC Servers

SUN SPARC ENTERPRISE T5220

The SPARC Enterprise T5220 configuration features one 8 Core 1.4GHz UltraSPARC T2

processor. If requested, the SPARC T5220 server can be equipped with an optional USBLCD flat display option with keyboard.

Base hardware

CPU 1 * 1400 MHz UltraSPARC T2 8 core

Processors

RAM 16 GB

Hard disk 8 x 146 GB Internal Disk Drives

The server height is 2U and the power consumption is 624 W.

T5220 connectivity

In addition to its Quad Ethernet Interface Cards, the T5220 server uses its ILOM card to

manage and configure the system. Integrated Lights Out Manager (ILOM) is system

management firmware that provides a browser-based web interface and a command-line

interface, as well as a Syslog interface, an SNMP user interface and an IPMI user

interface.

The T5220 SP-ILOM card has a 100-BASE-T Ethernet connection; 1 cable is required. It

requires one IP address and no redundancy is available in the XSCF controller card. (The

Serial link on the controller card can still be reached though a console server).

NPO hardware solutions SPARC Servers

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SUN SPARC M4000The SPARC M4000 configuration depends on the number of processors used or on the

amount of RAM memory. It is possible to attach an external disk array single or dual.

SUN SPARC M4000-2

Base hardware

CPU 2 * 2500 MHz quad core SPARC 64 VII

Processors

RAM 32 GB

Hard disk 2 * 300GB 10K-RPM 2.5” SAS internal disk

ST2540 Rack Ready external disk controller

tray, 12*300-GB

SUN SPARC M4000-4

Base hardware

CPU 2 * 2500 MHz quad core SPARC 64 VII

Processors

RAM 64 GB

Figure 2-6 System controller connectivity


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2-11



Base hardware

Hard disk 2 * 300GB 10K-RPM 2.5” SAS internal disk

ST2540 Rack Ready external disk controller

tray, 24*300-GB ST2501 SAS Expansion

Array

Prerequisites for M4000 installation

For Windows PCs:

• A USB to serial adaptor must be used if a serial port is not available on the PC

• The workstation must be installed in the same subnetwork as the server, when the

Ethernet port is connected

• Configure the HyperTerminal.

For M4000 machines, reserve four IP addresses:

• One for the M4000 ETH0 port

• The IP network must be different from 192.168.128.x which is reserved for disk array

configuration and cannot be used for other purposes

• One for the M4000 ETH1 M4000 port, to connect to Storage TEK 2540

• One for the XSCF Ethernet port

• One for the workstation Ethernet port.

M4000 connectivity

The M4000 can be connected to a ST2540 and it also uses its “ILOM” card to manage

and configure the system.

Figure 2-7 M4000 with System controller and ST2540 connectivity


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Citrix server requirements

The following table displays the minimum server requirements for the Citrix server.

Base hardware

CPU 2*2cores CPU for 6 users

2*4cores CPU for 12 users

RAM 8GB RAM for 6 users

16GB RAM for 12 users

Bandwidth requirements > 256Kb/s

OS Windows 2008 + RDS+ Citrix XenApp

Windows 2003 + TSE + Citrix PresentationServer

Automatic Storage Management

Automatic Storage Management (ASM) is a new feature that was introduced in Oracle

10g to simplify the storage of Oracle data files, control files and log files.

ASM simplifies the administration of Oracle related files by allowing the administrator to

reference disk groups rather than individual disks and files which are managed by ASM.

The ASM functionality is an extension of the Oracle Managed Files (OMF). The newASM functionality can be used in combination with existing raw and cooked file systems,

along with OMF and manually managed files.

The ASM functionality is controlled by an ASM instance. This is not a full database

instance, just the memory structures and as such is very small and lightweight.

The main components of ASM are disk groups, each of which comprise several physical

disks that are controlled as a single unit. The physical disks are known as ASM disks,

while the files that reside on the disks are know as ASM files. The locations and names

for the files are controlled by ASM, but user-friendly aliases and directory structures can

be defined for ease of reference.In summary, ASM provides the following functions:

• Manages groups of disks, called disk groups.

• Manages disk redundancy within a disk group.

• Provides near-optimal I/O balancing without any manual tuning.

• Enables management of database objects without specifying mount points and

filenames.

• Supports large files.


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2-13



The following table lists the hardware that has ASM and the hardware that does not.

With ASM Without ASM

M4000 (4CPU and 24 disks) installed for 3G

and 4G only

All other SUN platforms

V490 Cluster

All HP Platforms

NPO hardware solutions Automatic Storage Management

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3 3Hardware availability

Overview

Purpose

This chapter describes the hardware availability used in the NPO.

Contents

Hardware redundancy strategy 3-1

NPO nominal and recovery mode 3-4

SAM redundancy support 3-5

NPO redundancy 3-5

Hardware redundancy strategy

SUN SPARC ENTERPRISE T5220

Sun Enterprise T5220 servers incorporate the following key features to increase RAS:

• Redundancy and hot-swap components

• Reduced parts count that contributes to better overall stability and reliability of the

platform

• Processors thread and core off-lining and built-in RAID capabilities

• Parity protection and error correction capabilities• Integrated Lights Out Management (ILOM) service processor to ease remote

management and provide considerable administrative flexibility

• Superior energy efficiency

• Robust virtualization technology

• Comprehensive fault management.

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3-1



Hot Plug-able Components and Dynamic Reconfiguration

Sun Enterprise T5220 servers support the hot-plug of chassis mounted hard drives, and

the hot-swap of redundant fan units and power supplies. For systems configured with

redundant components, administrators can utilize software commands to remove and

replace disks, power supplies, and fan units while the system continues to operate. T5220

also supports RAID capabilities.

Power Supply Redundancy

The system features two hot-swappable power supplies, either of which is capable of

handling the system’s entire load. Thus, the system provides N+1 redundancy, allowing

the system to continue operating should one of the power supplies or its AC power source

fail.

Integrated Lights Out Management for Simplified Remote Serviceability

The Integrated Lights Out Management (ILOM) service processor is a system controller

built into all T5220 servers, facilitating remote system management, simplifyingadministration, and speeding maintenance tasks.

The ILOM circuitry runs independent of the server, using the server’s standby power.

Therefore, ILOM firmware and software continue to function when the server operating

system goes offline or when the server is powered off.

ILOM monitors the following T5220 server conditions:

• CPU temperature conditions

• Hard drive status

• Enclosure thermal conditions

• Fan speed and status

• Power supply status

• Voltage conditions

• Solaris watchdog, boot time-outs and automatic server restart events.

ILOM provides administrators with the capability to monitor and control T5220 servers

over a dedicated Ethernet connection and supports secure shell (SSH), Web, and

Integrated Platform Management Interface (IPMI) access. ILOM functions can also be

accessed through a dedicated serial port for connection to a terminal or terminal server.

SUN SPARC M4000

To deliver reliability, availability and serviceability, the Sun Enterprise M4000 offers the

following features:

• Supports redundant configurations and active replacement of power supplies and fans.

• Periodically performs memory patrol to detect memory software errors and stuck-at

faults, (Memory patrol)

• Supports redundant configurations, mirroring, and active replacement of disks

• XSCF (detailed below) collection of fault information, and preventive maintenance

using different types of warnings

Hardware availability Hardware redundancy strategy

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• Shortens the downtime by using automatic system reboot and time taken for system

startup

• Status LEDs mounted on the main components and the operator panel to display

which active components need replacement

• Centralized systematic monitoring, such as with SNMP.


The system features two (M4000) hot-swappable power supplies, either of which is

capable of handling the system’s entire load. Thus, the system provides N+1 redundancy,

allowing the system to continue operating should one of the power supplies or its AC

power source fail.

eXtended System Control Facility Unit (XSCFU)

The eXtended System Control Facility Unit (XSCFU) is a service processor that operates

and administrates the M4000. The XSCFU diagnoses and starts the entire server,

configures domains, offers dynamic reconfiguration, as well as detects and notifiesvarious failures. The XSCFU enables standard control and monitoring function through

network. Using this function enables starts, settings, and operation managements of the

server from remote locations.

The XSCFU uses the eXtended System Control Facility (XSCF) firmware to provide the

following functions:

• Controls and monitors the main unit hardware

• Monitors the Solaris Operating System (Solaris OS), power-on self-test (POST), and

the OpenBoot PROM

• Controls and manages the interface for the system administrator (such as a terminalconsole)

• Administrators device information

• Controls remote messaging of various events

The XSCF firmware provides the following system control and monitoring interfaces:

• Serial port through which the command-line interface (XSCF shell) can be used

• Two LAN ports.

These are:

– XSCF shell

– XSCF Web (browser-based user interface)

HP DL380

HP Integrated Lights-Out (iLO) for provides simplified server setup, health monitoring

and recovery, power and thermal control, and lights-out remote administration.

The system features fully redundant hot plug fans.


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HP Integrated Lights-Out

HP Integrated Lights-Out (iLO) simplifies server setup, health monitoring, power and

thermal control, and lights-out remote administration of the server. HP iLO functions

without additional software and can be accessed from any location via a web browser. HP

iLO works hand-in-hand with HP Systems Insight Manager, Insight Control and Insight

Dynamics for servers.


The system features two (DL380) hot-swappable power supplies, either of which is

capable of handling the system’s entire load.

HP DL580

HP Integrated Lights-Out 3 (iLO3) technology allows remote administration from a

standard web browser without ever having to visit the server.

The level of redundancy will be reported during the system power on.

The system features 4 Hot Plug Redundant Fans Standard on all models.

HP Integrated Lights-Out

HP Integrated Lights-Out (iLO) simplifies server setup, health monitoring, power and

thermal control, and lights-out remote administration of the server. HP iLO functions

without additional software and can be accessed from any location via a web browser. HP

iLO works hand-in-hand with HP Systems Insight Manager, Insight Control and Insight

Dynamics for servers.


The system features four (DL580) hot-swappable power supplies, either of which is

capable of handling the system’s entire load.

NPO nominal and recovery mode

The NPO can support different QoS granularity periods depending on NE capabilities to

provide raw data.

In the case of an exceptional outage or anomaly with the NPO (e.g.: link cut, server

unavailability) during a certain period, a large number of QoS files may be expected andwaiting for processing by the NPO at the next establishment of the system. In such

conditions, a period of recovery is observed to enable the NPO to reach its nominal mode.

The period of recovery depends of several conditions, including the period of outage, the

quantity of observation files (such as the number of network element and the granularity),

the type of the machines, etc... The recovery time also includes the normal recovery plus

the consolidation period.

In the recovery mode, the data recovered is from the current day but also if necessary

from the last day or the last two days.


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In the case of manual file management with the WMS (33282 - Manual collection and

mediation of counters files feature) due to missing periods observed in the NPO (e.g.: a

rare condition where the network element has not sent a file, or in the case of file

corruption, etc...), the files can be managed by the NPO within a maximum period of

three days in the past.

SAM redundancy support

The two IP addresses of SAM are declared as SAM data sources during NPO

commissioning. If one SAM is unavailable, the NPO automatically connects to the other

one.

NPO redundancy

Two (or more) NPO can be connected to the same SAM:

• • Both collect data from SAM active and stand by. NPO manage internally a list of

files already loaded , it use that to avoid loading the same file twice from SAM main

and space.

• Both NPO are “active” and can be used at any given time. The operator can connect to

either one.

• Both can use different versions and different hardware.

The following figure shows the potential configurations.

Hardware availability NPO nominal and recovery mode

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Hardware availability NPO redundancy

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4 4Capacity considerations

Overview

Purpose

This chapter provides an overview of NPO dimensioning and capacity.

Contents

Overview 4-1

Number of users 4-2

2G dimensioning information 4-3



Multi-techno dimensioning 4-4

Overview

The dimensioning of the NPO to the appropriate hardware mainly depends on the

network capacity in term of maximum “reference cells”:

• The Total Number of “Reference Cell” to determine the right NPO model is as

follows:

[0.75* nb of 2G cells + 1 * nb of 3G cells + 1 * nb of 4G Cells]

• The maximum of OMC server is limited to 5 for UMTS and LTE and 12 for GSM..

...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................



4-1



Number of users

The following table shows the number of potential users for each configuration.

Configuration names Users Supported

features

Hardware

NPO HP-S 15 ALL, except

PCMD/WCT

DL380 G7-1/Main

NPO HP-S/CT 15 ALL DL380 G7-1/Main

NPO HP-M 45 ALL, except

PCMD/WCT

DL380 G7-2/Main +

D2600

NPO HP-M/CT 45 ALL DL380 G7-2/Main +

D2600 + DL380

G7-2/Aux

NPO HP-XL 160 ALL, exceptPCMD/WCT

DL580 G7-4/Main + 4D2600 + DL380

G7-2/Aux

NPO HP-XL/CT 160 ALL, except

PCMD/WCT

DL580 G7-4/Main + 4

D2600 + 3 DL380

G7-2/Aux

NPO T5220 5 ALL, except

PCMD/WCT

T5220

NPO M4000-2 27 ALL, except

PCMD/WCT

M4000-2-32Gb +

ST2540-12

NPO M4000-4 38 ALL, except

PCMD/WCT

M4000-4 + ST2540-24

NPO M4000-2000-GSM 8 ALL, except

PCMD/WCT

M4000-2-16Gb-NoHBA


PCMD/WCT

M4000-2-16Gb-HBA +

ST2540-6


PCMD/WCT

M4000-4 + ST2540-12

Capacity considerations Number of users

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2G dimensioning information

The following table provides an overview of 2G dimensioning information, including:

• GP for 2G counter

• Storage duration in 2G

Storage duration

Data type Object type Hourly Daily Weekly Monthly

GSM N7SL ,

BSC_MFS_

LAPD,

BEARER-

CHANNEL

GPU_

ECELL2G

16D 93D 13W 3M

ADJ, AIC 1D 93D 13W 3M

GROUP_

SPRMST,

GROUP_

SPRMS

0D 16D 1W 1M

All other

types

32D 400D 58W 25M

3G dimensioning informationThe following table provides an overview of 3G dimensioning information, including:



Storage duration


W-CDMA All 21D 400D 58W 25M

Capacity considerations 2G dimensioning information

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4-3



4G dimensioning information

The following table provides an overview of 4G dimensioning information, including:


Granularity Period for eNodeB is 15 minutes.


Storage duration


LTE All 32D 400D 58W 25M

Multi-techno dimensioning

The following rules apply:• 1 reference cell = 1 W-CDMA cell = 1 LTE cell = 1.33 GSM cells

• Only two technologies are supported at the same time by NPO:

NPO 2G+3G or 3G+4G or 2G+4G but not NPO 2G+3G+4G.

Capacity considerations 4G dimensioning information

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5 5Miscellaneous

Overview

Purpose

This chapter provides information about:

• Discontinued hardware

• Minimum throughput requirements

• Interface information

• Hardware partitioning

Contents

Discontinued hardware 5-1

Minimum throughput requirements 5-1Interface information 5-2

Hardware partitioning 5-6

Discontinued hardware

Minimum throughput requirements

The maximum deadline for file availability in the NPO, including loading, must be in

general under one third of the configured General Permanent Observation (GPO) period.

This one third GPO is an absolute period within which file transfers occur continuously,

including regular pooling activity, file parsing, and the loading of data within the NPO

oracle database. With regard to the pure file transfer activity, the duration usually takes

10% of the one third GPO.

To guarantee the NPO's performance with regards to basic recovery scenarios (for

example, missing data, loss of connection that implies managing more data within a same

GPO), the quantity of data to be managed by the NPO has to be double accordingly.

...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................



5-1



As a consequence, the General Minimum throughput requirement for a nominal NPO

usage is defined as follows:

General Minimum throughput requirements (in kbps) =

Srnc i = Size of the RNC i observation file (in kiloBytes) under a given configuration(e.g.: 185 kiloBytes for each RNC with CP3 configured with 100 dNodeB2U BTS)

Nbrnc i = Number of RNC i Sbts i = Size of the BTS i observation file under a given

configuration (e.g.: 6 kiloBytes for each dNodeB2U BTS configured with about 3 cells)

Nbbts i = Number of BTS

GPO: The minimum general permanent observation period (in seconds) configured on the

BTS Network elements (e.g.: 900 seconds).

Interface informationNote: The default gateway is always set on the OAM interface in both single and

multiple interface environments. Alcatel-Lucent provides the opportunity to configure

the IP and netmask for the NE and BR interfaces. The NPO installation procedure

does not customize additional routing specific to the customer network. This will be

configured by customer after installation.

Within NPO

The following figure provides an overview of the interfaces within the NPO.

Miscellaneous Minimum throughput requirements

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The following table provides detailed information about each interface.

Interface Between Protocol Bandwidth

(a) NPO client NPO client<=>Main

server

CORBA, HTTP,

HTTPS

The Minimum

Throughput

Requirement per

NPO Client is 1

Mbps. For network

constraints in term of

bandwidth

capabilities, a SOC

(server of client, e.g.

Citrix) solution

should be considered.

To comply with the

throughput

requirement, every

client should be

connected to an

Ethernet switch

through a100/1000Mbps

connection.

(b) toward aux server NPO main

server<=>NPO aux

server

CORBA, HTTP,

HTTPS, SFTP

1Gb/s is needed

(c) Backup (optional) NPO main

server<=>central

backup

Depend on backup

server.

10 Gb interface is

required for fast

backup.

Minimum 1Gb

interface for backup.

Miscellaneous Interface information

....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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5-3



Between NPO, SAM and MME

The OAM servers, including the NPO, must be located within the same Ethernet LAN

that operates at Giga bits Ethernet and the 1000 Mbps capabilities must be extended to all

the Routing Switches. The files are compressed.

This requirement covers:• Communication between the NPO main server and auxiliary server

• Communication between the NPO and the SAM.

The following figure provides an overview of the interfaces between the NPO, SAM and

MME.

The following table provides detailed information about each interface.

Interface Protocol Bandwidth

(a) SAM<=>NPO aux SFTP, SSH PM file: 180 kB/eNB (3

cells/eNB)

So 3.2 MB/s for 48K cells


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Interface Protocol Bandwidth

(b) MME<=>NPO aux SCP, SSH (Only when the PCMD option

is used)

PCMD file: 250 MB at BH

(per minute, per MME)Bandwidth : 4MB/s/MME (at

BH)

NPO Server IP address requirements for DL580/DL380

These requirements apply to all servers (NPO main/NPO auxiliary).

Interface Function

Eth0 – OAM interface Connects the server to OMC/XMS/SAMConnects the server to the NPO client PC

Connects the NPO server to the AUX server

This interface is mandatory.

Eth1 B/R interface for backup operations on a

server located in the same network as the IP of

this interface

This interface is optional.

Eth2 NE interface is used to connect the server to

the MME

This interface is optional

ILO3 For remote connection on the server

The following table lists the four different NIC configuration possibilities according to

the configured network interfaces.

Configuration type Network interfaces

NIC configuration I Eth0 – OAM interface

Eth1 – B/R interface

Eth2 – NE interface

NIC configuration II Eth0 – OAM interface and B/R interface

Eth2 – NE interface

NIC configuration III Eth0 – OAM interface and NE interface

Eth1 – B/R interface

NIC configuration IV Eth0 – OAM interface which is configured

and/or linked.

This server is also NR and B/R interface.


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5-5



The ILO3 interface must be configured from the machine's BIOS.

NPO Server IP address requirements for M4000/T5220

Server Address requirements

T5220 Non IPMP: 1 Ethernet interface used

With IPMP: 2 Ethernet interface used

M4000 ASM - IPMP: 2 Ethernet interfaces used

non IPMP: 1 Ethernet interface used

with ASM - PMP: 3 Ethernet interfaces used

non IPMP: 2 Ethernet interfaces used

Non SAN is out of the scope of this document.

Hardware partitioning

Note: For a complete description of the configurations, refer to the Product

Configuration Level.

For Linux

Server Redundancy FS Type Mount point / Data

Group

Partition

size (GB)DL380

G7-1/Main

(NPO HP-S)

RAID 1 Ext3 / 25

Ext3 /boot 0.2

Ext3 /var 10

swap 20

Ext3 /alcatel 225

RAID 0 Ext3 /alcatel/backup 1043

RAID 1+ 0 Ext3 /alcatel/temp 200

ASM DATA 582


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Server Redundancy FS Type Mount point / DataGroup

Partitionsize (GB)

DL380

G7-2/Main +

D2600 (NPO

HP-M)

RAID 1 Ext3 / 25

Ext3 ./boot 0.2

Ext3 /var 10

swap 20

Ext3 /alcatel 225


RAID 1 + 0 ASM RECOVERY 521

RAID 1 Ext3 /alcatel/ssd 30

ASM REDO 80

RAID 1+ 0 ASM /alcatel/temp 200

Ext3 DATA 2929

DL580

G7-4/Main + 4

D2600 (NPO

HP-XL)

RAID 1 Ext3 / 25

Ext3 /boot 0.2

Ext3 /var 10

swap 20

Ext3 /alcatel 245

RAID 1 + 0 Ext3 /alcatel/ssd 200

ASM REDO 80


RAID 1 + 0 ASM RECOVERY 2086

RAID 1 + 0 ASM DATA 6258

RAID 1 + 0 Ext3 /alcatel/temp 1043

DL380

G7-2/Aux

RAID 1 Ext3 /boot 0.2

RAID 5 Ext3 /var 10

swap 20

Ext3 / 470

Ext3 /alcatel 2500

Miscellaneous Hardware partitioning

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5-7



For Solaris

Server Mount point / Data Group Partition size

NPO T5220 / 20 GB mirror of two slices on

internal disks

swap 20 GB mirror of two slices on

internal disks

/usr 10 GB mirror of two slices on

internal disks

/var 10 GB mirror of two slices on

internal disks

/alcatel 80 GB mirror of two slices on

internal disks

/alcatel/oracle/oradata 420 GB mirror of two slices

on internal disks

/alcatel/temp -

NPO M4000-2 / 30 GB mirror of two slices on

internal disks


internal disks


internal disks

/var 15 GB mirror of two slices oninternal disks

/alcatel 170 GB mirror of two slices

on internal disks

/alcatel/oracle/oradata 1.6 TB mirror on external

storage

/alcatel/temp 200 GB mirror on external

storage


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NPO M4000-4 / 30 GB mirror of two slices on

internal disks


internal disks


internal disks


internal disks


on internal disks


storage


storage

NPO M4000-2000-GSM / 30 GB mirror of two slices on

internal disks


internal disks

/usr -

/var -

/alcatel 50 GB mirror of two slices on

internal disks

/alcatel/oracle/oradata 150 GB mirror of two slices

on internal disks

/alcatel/temp -


internal disks


internal disks

/usr 15 GB mirror of two slices oninternal disks


internal disks


on internal disks

/alcatel/oracle/oradata 800 GB mirror on external

storage


storage


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5-9





internal disks


internal disks


internal disks


internal disks


on internal disks


storage


storage


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6 6Migration paths and

hardware upgrades

Overview

Purpose

This chapter describes

Contents

Migration without hardware change 6-1

Migration with hardware change 6-2

Hardware upgrades 6-3

Migration without hardware change

The following figure shows existing sites based on V490, T5220 or M4000 and upgraded

to M4.

...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................



6-1



Migration with hardware change

The following figure shows a case of migration with hardware change in the M4 software

version.

Migration paths and hardware upgrades Migration with hardware change

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Hardware upgrades

This section describes possible upgrades for CPU/memory/other by reconfiguring the

machine.

The upgrade hardware possibility offered is from M4000-2 to M4000-4.

Refer to the Product Configuration Level for more information.

Migration paths and hardware upgrades Hardware upgrades

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Migration paths and hardware upgrades Hardware upgrades

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7 7Backup and restore

solutions

Overview

Purpose

This chapter describes the available backup and restore solutions.

Contents

Scope 7-1

Policy and scheduling 7-2

Backup/restore solution on Solaris 7-2

Backup/restore solution on Linux 7-3

Scope

The NPO platform provides administration services for data backup and restore via tape

(or via the network drive).

There are two possible backup modes:

• Manual (the backup executes immediately), and

• Automatic (the backup is executed according to a planned schedule with automatic

repetitions (by day, week, month or year periodicity).

In both modes, the backup is done without NPO interruption.

...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................



7-1



Policy and scheduling

A backup and restore policy consists of the production of the best NPO image in order to

restore the system in any type of disaster scenarios and in the best timing delay.

In the case of an Oracle database crash or anomaly, the restoration of the NPO essential

data is enough. In the case of a software crash, the complete NPO image (essential and

system) becomes useful to avoid the re-installation of the whole NPO application.

The backup time is 1H on 3K, 2H on 12K and 4H with 48K (to be confirmed with actual

measurement)

The restore time is approximately twice as long as the backup.

Backup/restore solution on Solaris

The NPO platform provides administration services for data backup and restore via tape(or via the network drive).

This section describes the following backup/restore tasks performed for NPO data and

application backup:

• NPO data backup on tape with Oracle Secure Backup (OSB), an additional software

delivered by Alcatel-Lucent

• NPO data backup on local disk

• NPO application backup.

NPO data backup/restore on tape

The proposed solution is based on the Oracle Secure Backup package.

This is supported for legacy SPARC systems only, and it is limited to the tape capacity

(800 Gb meaning 10000 cells maximum). NPO data backup is an online backup and can

be performed without stopping the application. Incremental backup is also supported.

NPO data backup/restore on local disk

The backup is written on the local disk of the NPO main server. There is a command line

script to do it. This script can be scheduled via the usual Unix scheduler (cron).

Then, it is possible to save it on any external remote server or external media, using the

preferred customer method.

Only local disks are supported; using NFS in particular is not supported because of the

high bandwidth needed and the wide variation in NFS performance. Incremental backup

is also supported.

Backup and restore solutions Policy and scheduling

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NPO application backup/restore

The NPO data is not included in the application backup. The NPO data must be backed up

using a supported means of backup. The application backup of the NPO machine offers

an alternative to an installation from scratch in the case of a disaster. This procedure does

not cover the database.

Backup/restore solution on Linux

The available Oracle database backup solutions are:

• Application Backup

• NPO data backup.

NPO application backup/restore

The NPO database is not included in the application backup. The NPO data must be backed up using a supported means of backup. The application backup of the NPO

machine offers an alternative to an installation from scratch in the case of a disaster. This

procedure does not cover the database.

NPO data backup/restore

The NPO data backup and restore solution is complementary to the application

backup/restore solution.

The NPO data backup creates a backup set of the NPO database (Oracle) and the NPO

users (CSA) inside the /alcatel/backup/data directory on a local partition of the Linux NPO machine. The contents of the /alcatel/backup/data directory should be backed up on

a separate backup server.

f

The available solutions for NPO data backup are:

• Full backup, and

• Incremental backup.

Backup and restore solutions Backup/restore solution on Solaris

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Backup and restore solutions Backup/restore solution on Linux

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8 8Client

Overview

Purpose

This chapter describes the Windows PC client hardware requirements for the NPO.

Contents

8-1

The following table lists the Windows PC requirements for the NPO application.

Base hardware

CPU 1 CPU Pentium 4, 2.8 GHz (512 KB cache) or

1 CPU core 2 duo or Core 2 Quad or higher

RAM 2 GB or higher

Hard disk 40 GB disk or higher

(At least 1 GB free minimum in C Partition)

Ethernet board 100/1000 Mb/sec Ethernet boards

Software

Operating System Windows XP (English) Service Pack 2 or 4 or

Windows Vista Or Windows 7 (32 bit and 64

bit only for NPO 4.1)

Other Applications Microsoft Office 2003 NPO M4.1 : Java JRE

and JDK 6.0 must also be installed

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8-1



Client

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9 9Network Time

Synchronization

Overview

Purpose

This chapter describes the Network Time Synchronization (NTS) functions.

Contents

9-1

About NTP functionality 9-2

Compatibility 9-3

Time source selections 9-3

Redundancy and resiliency 9-3

Default behavior of WMS or NPO main server under outage conditions 9-3

Recommended NTP architecture 9-4

Using public time sources over internet 9-4

NTP accuracy and network design requirements 9-5

NTP resource usage considerations 9-5

Overview

Proper time synchronization is useful and should be considered mandatory in order to

adequately support the requirements for:

• Accounting/billing CDRs

• Network and fault management

• Efficient troubleshooting and support

• Security and audit logs

• Performance counter correlation.

The Network Time Protocol (NTP) is the main protocol used in the Alcatel-Lucent

Wireless OAM network to synchronize the time of day (TOD) on servers and the NEs

together. The same level of support is for WMS or NPO.

...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................



9-1



About NTP functionality

The is composed of servers and clients that exchange information about their system time.

The NTP is based on client-server and master-slave architecture.

The WMS or NPO implementation of the NTP is in Unicast mode (more accurate and

secure than broadcast mode) where the NTP client actually initiates the time information

exchange. After a NTP client sends a request to the server, the server sends back a time

stamped response, along with information such as its accuracy and stratum (see below).

The NTP client receives the time response from a NTP server (or servers), and uses the

information to calibrate its clock. The NTP client determines how far its clock is off and

slowly adjusts its time to line up with that of the NTP servers. Adjustments are based on

many time exchanges, and involve filtering and weighting as defined in the protocol. In

order to increase accuracy, corrections are applied on the client side to eliminate skewing

cause by networking latency.

The NTP client estimates travelling time and remote processing time once it receives the packet from the NTP server. NTP algorithms assume that the one-way travelling between

the NTP server and client is half of the total round trip delay (minus remote processing

time). Given that this assumption is not always 100% accurate, it is generally accepted

that as the travel time to and from the server increases, the probability of loss of accuracy

increases.

In the context of NTP, the stratum is the number of NTP server levels relative to a

reference clock that is considered as the most accurate time for a given network.

Stratum-1 is considered to be the most accurate level (for example, a GPS type

transceiver with an NTP interface). Clients which synchronize on stratum-1 servers areconsidered stratum-2. Some nodes (such as the WMS or NPO servers which are based on

Solaris) can offer both the NTP client and server functionality.

Clients using stratum-2 servers become themselves stratum-3 and so on. The higher the

stratum number is, the less accurate the synchronization is considered to be. Note that

local time zone settings are outside of the scope of the NTP. These settings must be set

locally on each device.

Network Time Synchronization About NTP functionality

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Compatibility

NTP version 3 must be deployed as part of the UMTS OAM solution. NTP V3 (RFC

1305) is the most popular version (and the default for most devices). Implementation of

NTP usage within the UMTS network is straightforward since support for the NTP

already exists on NEs and servers; this includes the RNC. All Solaris based OAM serversalso support the NTP, including the WMS or NPO main servers, client server and Unix

clients.

Time source selections

It is not within the scope of this document to propose recommended vendors or types of

Stratum 1 server; however, considering the accuracy requirements, GPS type time servers

meet the requirements and are simple to operate/maintain at acceptable cost levels.

Redundancy and resiliency

Redundancy is essential in the NTP configuration. The NTP clients (this includes

intermediary servers such as the WMS or NPO servers) must connect to at least two lower

stratum NTP servers (Primary Main Server or Secondary Main, stratum-1 GPS NTP if

available...), and this number can be increased to three or four.

The recommendation of having one GPS type NTP server co-located in each ROC (with a

minimum total of two available to the WMS or NPO main server) must be considered,

specifically when there is local legislation on the accuracy of the timestamps for billing.Following the above recommendations will minimize brief connectivity outages.

Default behavior of WMS or NPO main server under outageconditions

In the rare situation of outage of the main server time sources (NTS down, loss of

connectivity), the WMS Main Server will continue to distribute the time based on its own

internal clock which will still be corrected based on the trend (drift correction) that was

established when it was synchronized. This configuration ensures that all devices staysynchronized amongst themselves for logging purposes (security and troubleshooting).

Some testing done shows that a Solaris server which was previously synchronized can

drift by typically 100 msec per day (with less typical values being around 400 msec/day).

This WMS or NPO main server default behavior needs to be weighed against time

accuracy requirements for billing. Should the time synchronization requirements for the

NEs involved in billing be tight (1 second or less from national standards), it could be

considered to change this behavior. Alternate behavior under this situation would be for

Network Time Synchronization Compatibility

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9-3



the main server to stop distributing time when it has lost contact to lower level stratum

synchronization sources. Under this situation the NEs will generate alarms for loss of

time synchronization.

Recommended NTP architectureIt is recommended to use the WMS or NPO Main server as the central point for

distributing the time throughout the network. The main advantage of using the main

server is that it must have connectivity to all the NEs or EMSs managed by a ROC which

require time synchronization.

To ensure accurate distribution, the main server must get the time from all the time

sources available in the overall wireless network (up to three or four, if possible). This

limits the OAM traffic between different operating centres as well as simplifying firewall

rule management, since only the WMS or NPO main server would get the time of other

servers outside of the NOC.

Using public time sources over internet

There is no engineering requirement to have Internet connectivity from the OAM network

and this is something that would normally be avoided. Should an Internet public source

be used as a time reference, it is recommended to build an intermediary stratum server

somewhere off the OAM network (bastion NTP server).

Specific attention must be paid to the security of this server. As a minimum, thisintermediary server must have peering and remote configuration/monitoring disabled.

Standard NTP access control (ntp.conf file) restricts all NTP communications to the

servers involved in the configuration (i.e. the NTP servers on the Internet side and the

WMS or NPO main server if this server is the main time distribution point). The optional

key and encoding features of NTP could be considered to authenticate the source. NTP

time sources available on the Internet normally charge a monthly fee for such services but

would offer a guarantied level of accuracy. If guarantied accuracy servers are not used, it

would be recommended to use three or four sources off the Internet so that this

intermediary time server can take advantage of the rich NTP algorithms to determine if

some servers are inaccurate or incorrect.Firewalls should also be used and if these also allow flow control, it should be assumed

that the maximum rate is one packet per minute. This may offer some protection from

denial of service attacks.

Network Time Synchronization Default behavior of WMS or NPO main server under outageconditions

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NPOnpoengg M4

Issue 1 March 2011



NTP accuracy and network design requirements

A key driver for synchronization accuracy requirement is billing. Typical billing accuracy

requirements may vary from one country to another; but are typically of +-1 second from

national time standards.

It has been demonstrated that the upper bound of typical synchronization error achieved

using the NTP in unicast mode is around 50 msec (or 25% of average round trip time in

between servers/clients accumulated to stratum-1 source). Note that this is the accuracy of

the time at the System/OS level (there can actually be some extra internal delays on a

server or an NE in associating a time stamp on an event).

This estimate is based on the fact that the actual OAM network design follows two

standard engineering guidelines which ensure optimal NTP accuracy:

• Symmetrical transport times in between the server and client

• Avoid sustained congestion conditions.

With regard to time accuracy convergence, after initially starting the NTP processes, it

may take several minutes, or even up to an hour to adjust a system's time to the ultimate

degree of accuracy. To avoid long stabilization times, it is possible to perform an initial

manual adjustment to the local clock before starting the NTP processes.

NTP resource usage considerations

Considering the flow of fault and performance information on the OAM network, NTP

communication is negligible. CPU resource consumption of NTP on Solaris servers is

also negligible.

Requirements on local time zone settings

Local time zone settings are outside of the scope of the NTP. The NTP only synchronizes

time at a lower level (similar to GMT or UTC). Regional time specificities such as time

zones and daylight savings time (DST) are normally set on each node, NE or server.

Wireless network nodes as well as the WMS or NPO components deal with time zone in

different manner, by sending different levels of information. Because of this, the

following recommendations and requirements are made in order to simplify network

management. Note that the network management function is normally facilitated when

time stamps related to events can easily be correlated together.

Preferred recommendations

The time settings on all NEs, OAM servers and clients must be identical (all set to UTC,

or all set to a single time zone).

Note that having the clients set to a different time zone than that of the OAM server can

be a source of unsupported issues relative to the accurate display of time in alarms and in

reports.

Network Time Synchronization NTP accuracy and network design requirements

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9-5



Alternative proposal

The following alternative proposal takes into account important considerations which are

required when NEs are already integrated into a billing system. In all cases, the CDR's

time information is always based on local NE time. Impacts on changing the time or time

zone on the NEs need to be adequately assessed. If the time or time zone is changed, this

could require corrective measures at the billing system level. In addition to the legal

aspects of time stamp accuracy requirements in billing, subscribers may require exact

time stamps if they are used to listing events on their bills.

Billing considerations may negatively impact following the recommendations in this

document. In such a situation, an alternative to the preferred recommendations would be

to keep some NEs set to their actual time zones (i.e. actual local times are set on NEs

spawning in multiple time zones). This alternative proposal is not the preferred one from

an operational point of view given that the correlation of time related information will be

more complex.

When no impacts are identified to billing, the preferred time zone recommendations (NEs

and OAM system set to a single time zone) must be followed.

The following recommendations and notes apply to this alternative:

• UMTS Access networks do not generate billing CDRs. Therefore, they must follow

the preferred time zone recommendations (homogeneous single time zone setting).

Given that UMTS Access RNC and NODE B deal with time offsets in very different

manners, any deviation from this recommendation for UMTS access network will

create inconsistent time stamp information and will complicate network management.

• The WMS or NPO Client must be set to the same time zone as the OAM servers.

• The consequences of choosing this alternate strategy is that correlation of timeinformation of nodes in different time zones will be not be as straightforward as when

they are all in the same time zone.

Network Time Synchronization NTP resource usage considerations

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Engineering Guide 2 umts network

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