Active Fault Management

Definition - What does Active Fault Management mean?

Active fault management is one of two ways to perform fault management in network systems. It is constantly in the process of detecting, isolating and resolving problems in the network by actively using monitoring tools to see if a certain device that is being monitored is active and responding to every process or is already down and unresponsive. If a device fails to meet its required tasks, the active monitoring system will send an alarm that indicates that the device is not responsive or has encountered a problem so that proactive actions can be taken before the problem gets worse.

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Techopedia explains Active Fault Management

Fault management in general is capable of detecting certain network problems through navigation over the affected hardware, which is then isolated from other unaffected hardware. This process is done automatically and quickly using tools that connect to a database. Most networks have GUIs that illustrate the problem, showing the node in question.

In active fault management, the system is uniquely designed to efficiently suit the impact of the alarm whenever the active monitoring system detects a problem. The detection is also "active," meaning that the tools are always checking for certain parameters and asking for replies from different nodes. Passive monitoring simply waits for a node to report a problem, assuming the node is smart enough to do that. This method allows operators to easily locate the specific portion that is affected by the malfunction or possible malfunction and quickly come up with a solution.