AWIPS and the Network Control Facility: Status and a Guide to Troubleshooting

The Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) is a National Weather Service modernization program, contracted through NOAA's AWIPS Acquisition Office (AAO) to PRC Inc. The performance and availability of each operational system will be monitored and controlled from the Network Control Facility (NCF) in Silver Spring, Maryland. The effectiveness of the NCF to resolve operational problems in a timely manner is critical to the success of AWIPS.

This paper will provide an overview of the NCF troubleshooting process and status of NCF performance. The NCF Enterprise Management system will be described and some of the automated fault detection and management tools will be described. Detail will be provided on the tools and techniques used by NCF operators to fault isolate problems with AWIPS users. A demonstration of the NCF knowledge base will be provided including a look at the "bubble-up" search features available to NCF operators. A notional problem will be "called-in" and followed through the troubleshooting process to closure.

Those reading or hearing this paper will fully comprehend the techniques available to the NCF to diagnose and correct problems. They will see the tools that are available and under development to support the NCF as we proceed towards full AWIPS deployment.