Overview of a typical NOC. Lot of monitors (front), backbone overview (back) and news broadcast on TV-set (right)
A network operations center (or NOC, pronounced "knock") is one or more locations from which control is exercised over a computer, television broadcast, or telecommunications network.
Large organizations may operate more than one NOC, either to manage different networks or to provide geographic redundancy in the event of one site being unavailable or offline.
NOCs are responsible for monitoring the network for alarms or certain conditions that may require special attention to avoid impact on the networks performance. For example, in a telecommunications environment, NOCs are responsible for monitoring for power failures, communication line alarms (such as bit errors, framing errors, line coding errors, and circuits down) and other performance issues that may affect the network. NOCs analyze problems, perform troubleshooting, communicate with site technicians and other NOCs, and track problems through resolution. If necessary, NOCs escalate problems to the appropriate personnel. For severe conditions that are impossible to anticipate – such as a power failure or optical fiber cable cut – NOCs have procedures in place to immediately contact technicians to remedy the problem.
NOCs often escalate issues in a hierarchic manner, so if an issue is not resolved in a specific time frame, the next level is informed to speed up problem remediation. Many NOCs have multiple "tiers", which define how experienced/skilled a NOC technician is. A newly-hired NOC technician might be considered a "tier 1", whereas a technician that has been there for several years may be considered a "tier 3" or "tier 4". As such, some problems are escalated within a NOC before a site technician or other network engineer is contacted.
The term NOC is normally used when referring to telecommunications providers, although a growing number of other organizations such as public utilities (e.g., SCADA) and private companies also have such centers, both to manage their internal networks and to provide monitoring services.
The location housing a NOC may also contain many or all of the primary servers and other equipment essential to running the network, although it is not uncommon for a single NOC to monitor and control a number of geographically dispersed sites.
In broadcast television
NOCs at television broadcast facilities are responsible for the technical and operational overview of all broadcast network services, including monitoring, correcting, and troubleshooting day-to-day issues.
Duties that fall under broadcast NOCs include:
- Video server playback
- Media storage
- Tape archives
- Automation servers
- Off air channel monitoring
- Encryption and scrambling
- Serial Digital Video, ASI, Multiplexed and DVB data streams technical monitoring
- Networking
- RF and IF distribution
- Monitoring turnaround video services
See also
