In the world of IT, NOCs (or Network Operations Centers) are a way for companies to manage their networks. They can be used in any industry to track how well an organization’s hardware is performing and ensure that it doesn’t experience any downtime. These centers are also meant to monitor data traffic and bandwidth usage, making sure that nothing is overused or underused at any given moment.

Definition

NOC meaning: According to a digital platform expert ConnectWise, “A network operations center, or NOC (pronounced “knock”), is a centralized location where IT technicians directly support the efforts of remote monitoring and management (RMM) software.” NOC stands for Network Operations Center. It’s a central point of contact for a network and provides a single point of contact for network monitoring and management. In other words, the NOC manages your company’s network infrastructure, including hardware, software and security.

The NOC can be either physical or virtual—and it will likely be both in many cases. Suppose you have multiple locations where people work on your technology infrastructure (such as at home offices). In that case, you’ll need to have some sort of central command center where all the data regarding the infrastructure comes together so that it can be monitored by operators who are trained to deal with any issues that arise.

Why Is It Needed?

  • Assess, monitor, and manage network operations. NOCs are responsible for monitoring the performance of all aspects of their networks and making adjustments where necessary to maintain optimal performance levels.
  • Manage network security. The NOC can help you keep track of your security policies by identifying potential threats to your network and taking steps to prevent them from occurring or spreading if they do occur.
  • Troubleshoot network issues: Many times, some problems arise with a computer’s performance due to hardware issues, software conflicts, malware infections or other common problems that cause system crashes or unexpected behavior on your computer(s). A good NOC will be able to detect such issues early on when they’re easier (and less costly) to fix before they become big headaches later down the road.

Types of NOCs

  • Service Providers NOC – This type of network operation center is used to monitor and manage networks owned by other companies. The primary purpose of this type of NOC is to ensure that the services provided by the external company meet customer expectations.
  • Managed Services NOC – This type of network operation center monitors a customer’s existing IT infrastructure, often providing maintenance and support for it as well. A managed service provider will typically provide 24/7 monitoring for its clients, who get their dedicated staff during business hours but can still reach someone remotely if an issue arises at night or on weekends.
  • Corporate NOC – A corporate network operation center monitors all aspects of an organization’s internal IT infrastructure system-wide, including servers (including cloud servers) and computers within offices; data centers; LANs; WANs; firewalls; routers; switches; mobile devices such as laptops and smartphones; printers etcetera.

It is crucial to understand what NOC is and why it needs to be done. A NOC is a document showing the person or company permitted by the concerned authority to do business in a certain area. When starting your own business, you need to get yourself a NOC from an authority so that they can issue various licenses related to your business.