Businesses in the automotive and aviation sectors are witnessing major changes in recent times. Many countries are adopting new standards and regulations to make air and road transport cleaner and more efficient. Examples of this can be seen in the EU's plan for banning the sale of conventional fossil fuel powered cars by 2035, or the FAA's NextGen program to revamp airport and air traffic infrastructure.
All of these changes have a common focus: integration of information technology (IT) systems in transportation. In general, IT systems allow for critical data backups as well as faster communication. For the aviation and automotive sectors, computer systems can be used to simulate flight paths and make route planning much more efficient. Due to such advancements, global airport operations, commercial aircraft production, and automotive manufacturing were among the fastest growing industries in recent years.
Despite all their advantages, IT networks can face one major flaw: downtime. Network outages and sketchy connectivity can have disastrous consequences for transportation networks where availability is a key factor. As the adoption of IT networks in the aviation and automotive sectors continues, there should also be focus on network monitoring and management to safeguard them from downtime.
Traffic controllers avoid collisions and guide pilots using flight plans and meteorological information. Data handover is performed between controllers on the route as the aircraft passes through. Older ATM systems used client-server architectures while newer ones are adopting cloud-based systems. In both cases, server health monitoring, network performance monitoring, and protection against bad actors are each necessary.
Customers' personal data, credit card information, and journey details must be protected from exploitation. Ticketing websites could be targeted by DDoS attacks, ransomware, and other malware. Network monitoring enables IT admins to be alerted of abnormal traffic.
Avionics refers to electronic components that are vital for flight. These components are usually secured behind a firewall to prevent unauthorized access and sabotage.
Most airplanes are equipped with broadband capabilities so that passengers can access the internet mid-flight. Network monitoring is essential to prevent outages and optimize performance.
Navigation systems are used in both aviation and road-based travel. Location information can be requested from GPS or other satellite-based systems and is usually managed from a centralized datacenter where network management would be beneficial.
Fleets of trucks, buses, or other transport vehicles are managed from a central location to monitor parameters like location, speed, driver behavior, and more. Network monitoring can be employed to ensure constant availability of these sensors and the data they collect.
Internet of things (IoT) technologies will become increasingly prevalent, as they allow vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-infrastructure, vehicle-to-network, and vehicle-to-pedestrian communication. Technologies like Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) and autonomous driving are possible because of the data that's collected and shared by IoT-enabled technologies.
Centralized traffic light monitoring uses wireless networks to allow dynamic traffic light management across a city to provide efficient traffic control and flow.
IT teams should prioritize availability, security, and resilience for their networks. Many critical aviation operations rely upon information on demand. For example, ATC servers must have continuous availability so that weather updates can be used to make flight path corrections midair. Similarly, autonomous vehicles of the future would need to communicate with each other and traffic infrastructure to negotiate road traffic.
Resilience becomes important when the traffic volume is taken into consideration. Transportation usually involves a many complex components, each with differing routes and objectives. The network should be able to handle large loads without experiencing performance issues or reduced speeds.
Security objectives include safeguarding critical network components, protecting sensitive data from being leaked, and countering malicious actors from taking down important transport networks.
Aviation networks in particular are vulnerable to cyberattacks given their role in national and international infrastructure. Bad actors exploit networks using DDoS attacks, malware, ransomware, etc. Employees are often targeted with phishing mails or other tricks to open malicious emails or harmful links.
In the case of airlines, passenger data is of utmost importance. Servers containing clients' personal information and credit cards details have been the target of cyberattacks in recent years. Booking websites like Sabre and airports like LAX have been compromised by attackers in the past.
Companies must adopt cybersecurity standards to have a uniform security policy for protecting themselves against a rising number of cyberattacks. Pre-existing standards like NIST 800-171 and CIS CSC are now being complemented by newer standards like NAS 9933 and CMMC to respond to new and evolving threats. Similarly, automotive compliance standards like ISO/SAE 21434 exist to protect modern smart vehicles from cyberattacks.
Air travel is made possible due to the coordinated inter-operation of various components. Each part of its journey is guided by traffic controllers. Airborne traffic, airport status, and weather patterns are constantly changing parameters that have to be continuously updated. Road vehicles rely on navigation features, especially in rural and remote areas where network coverage could be sketchy.
Transportation networks are inherently distributed in nature. They might be spread cross-country or across continents. Air traffic controllers are spread all over the world and share information amongst each other; fleet management is often performed from a centralized data center which processes information from multiple locations. IT admins for both sectors have to ensure smooth operation of remote network components, with minimal latency and maximum availability of key information.
Traffic management is a useful tool that helps save time and fuel. Air traffic controllers calculate airport capacities in advance and ask pilots to make speed and course corrections to eliminate holding times above airports. Similarly, road transport companies use traffic management to optimize hauling trips to cover all the stops with minimal fuel usage.
It's evident that network monitoring is a pre-requisite to safeguard and optimize aviation and automotive networks, airport IT teams would also need software to monitor airport IT networks. A good network monitoring tool continuously gathers data from the devices in its network and alerts IT admins of any abnormal developments. It also should have extended functionalities like scheduling, failover, fault management, and easy configuration management.
OpManager handles all of these prerequisites. OpManager can discover network devices such as switches, routers, desktops, servers, and virtual machines. Associate 200+ monitors with multi-level thresholds, generate user configured alerts and notification profiles, and create customized reports. This, along with its array of in-house add-ons and integrations makes OpManager a comprehensive network monitoring tool.
OpManager's features are tailor-made to ensure convenient and concise monitoring. It's UI is feature dense, with customizable dashboards and intuitive maps to provide deep visibility into networks. This is particularly helpful for large distributed networks.
Some of OpManager's beneficial features include:
OpManager keeps constant watch over your network and micro-manages its configurations to best suit your requirements.There are multiple license versions based on the number of devices and the scope of monitoring, with unlimited monitors permitted per device. Technical support is another important factor to consider for critical networks which can afford no downtime. ManageEngine provides basic support for all license versions and users can switch to more advanced support options if the need arises.
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