WAN Management Tools and Systems

Because the WAN service provider bears the responsibility of maintaining the actual WAN, there isn’t much left to do to manage components in your WAN Domain. It is important to ensure all the components in the WAN Domain are doing their jobs, but there isn’t much you can do to manage the actual WAN. You learned about WAN optimization tools earlier in this chapter. Managing components in the WAN Domain primarily means managing how well your organization uses the WAN resources. There are three main categories of WAN management tasks:

• Providing the best WAN option for specific traffic

• Caring for WAN Domain components

• Optimizing WAN usage

In this respect, the WAN optimization tools are also WAN management tools. Your organization likely has different needs for WANs. As a result, you will likely use different WAN solutions. You may make the decision of which WAN to use in other domains, but the actual access point exists in the WAN Domain. It is important to ensure each WAN access point is configured and optimized to provide the best level of service for your needs.