Fault Configuration Accounting Performance Security (FCAPS)

Techopedia explains Fault Configuration Accounting Performance Security (FCAPS)

Each aspect of FCAPS can be summarized as follows:

• Fault Management: The goals and objectives include early fault recognition, isolation of negative effects, fault correction and logging of the corrections to assist in improvement. The network operator must assure that (usually) automatic fault notification is followed by rapid manual or monitored automatic activities to assure fault identification, evaluation and timely correction.
• Configuration Management: This involves the collecting and storing various configuration data, preferably in an easily accessible database(s), simplifying configuration procedures for each network device, logging configuration changes, and provisioning transmission paths through networks without switches.
• Accounting Management: Also called billing management, this involves collecting such network user data as link utilization, disk drive or data storage usage, and CPU processing time.
• Performance Management: In view of investments made to set up the network, this examines and monitors the current network efficiency and plans ahead for future changes or upgrades. While constantly monitoring the health of the network and searching for trends, network parameters are tracked and logged; these include data transmission rate (throughput), error rates, downtime/uptime, use-time percentages and response time to user and automated inputs or requests.
• Security Management: This is mostly concerned with authenticated and authorized access to the network as well as encryption of data, i.e. controlling all access and securing all data.