ns Archiving performance data to identify trends and best configurations Use of the analyzed output to develop patterns for improving and effectively utilizing the network Replacing or correcting inventory for improving performance Generating logs to notify technicians when thresholds are crossed on pre- defined parameters for performance evaluation The functionalities in performance management that are built into most man- agement applications can be classified into: ITU-T FCAPS Performance data collection: For each network element or for a service offered by network there are a set of key performance indicators. For a network, collection of data on these performance indicators help in determining and forecasting network health and with a service it helps to indicate the quality of service (QoS). Collection of this performance data is a key functionality in most management applications. Utilization and error rates: The traffic handled by a trunk to the maximum traffic it can handle is an indicator of trunk utilization. This in turn shows how the trunk is performing independently and compared to other trunks in the network. Even when a trunk is getting utilized, the overall network may not be effectively managed. A typical example is under utilization of one trunk and over utilization of another. Thresholds need to be set and error rates determined SO that there is optimal utilization at network level of all possible resources. Different algo- rithms are used to implement this and make sure there is minimal manual intervention. Availability and consistent performance: The most basic check of performance is availability of a resource. If the resource is generating reports then avail- ability is confirmed. Performance data is usual for forecasting, trend develop- ment, and planning only when the performance levels are consistent. Performance data analysis and report generation: All performance manage- ment applications have data collection, data analysis, and report generation. Multiple reports are generated as gra