This chapter introduces some of the ways transport networks and devices can be managed. GMPLS reduces the management burden in transport networks by offloading functions from the operator and management plane to the control plane. For example, the collection and correlation of information about the status and capabilities of the links are automatically handled and kept up to date by the GMPLS routing protocols. Similarly, the GMPLS signaling protocols make it possible to provision new LSPs and manage existing LSPs with only a small number of management plane interactions. From the perspective of an operator at their console in the Network Operations Center, there may be very little visible difference between the tools used to manage a traditional transport network and a GMPLS-enabled network, but it would be a mistake to assume that the efficiency or mode of operation of the underlying transport plane is unchanged. The GMPLS control plane makes sure that the operator is always working with the most up-to- date information and also makes sure that the services are managed efficiently by the management plane.

Nevertheless, the management plane is an essential component of the GMPLS- enabled network. The first and most important question is the structure that is applied to the management framework for the network: How does the operator coordinate the many devices that make up the network and are physically remote and supplied by different vendors? Next we look at how management networks are physically provided and what network resources are needed so that...