Network Troubleshooting Overview
These sections introduce you to the concepts and practice ofnetwork
troubleshooting:
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Introduction to Network Troubleshooting
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Network TroubleshootingFramew ork
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TroubleshootingS trategy
Network troubleshooting means recognizing and diagnosing
networking problems with the goal of keeping yournetwork running
optimally. As anetwork administrator, your primary concern is
maintainingconnectivity of all devices (a process often calledfa ult
management). You also continually evaluate and improve your
network'sperforma nce. Because serious networking problems can
sometimes begin as performance problems, paying attention to
performance can help you address issues before they become serious.
About Connectivity Problems
Connectivity problems occur when end stations cannot communicate
with other areas of your local areanetwork (LAN) or wide area
network (WAN). Using management tools, you can often fix a
connectivity problem before users even notice it. Connectivity
problems include:
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Loss of connectivity - When users cannot access areas of your
network, your organization's effectiveness is impaired.
Immediately correct any connectivity breaks.
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Intermittent connectivity - Although users have access to networkres ources
some of the time, they are still facing periods of downtime. Intermittent
connectivity problems can indicate that yournetw ork is on the verge of a major
break. If connectivity is erratic, investigate the problem immediately.
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Timeout problems - Timeouts cause loss of connectivity, but are often associated
with poorn etw ork performance.
About Performance Problems
Yournetwork has performance problems when it is not operating as
effectively as it should. For example, response times may be slow, the
network may not be as reliable as usual, and users may be
complaining that it takes them longer to do their work. Some
performance problems are intermittent, such as instances of duplicate
addresses. Other problems can indicate a growing strain on your
network, such as consistently high utilization rates.
If you regularly examine yournetwork for performance problems, you
can extend the usefulness of your existingnetwork configuration and
plannetwork enhancements, instead of waiting for a performance
problem to adversely affect the users' productivity.
Solving Connectivity and Performance Problems
When you troubleshoot yournetwork, you employ tools and
knowledge already at your disposal. With an in-depth understanding of
yournetwork, you can usenetwork software tools, such as"Ping",
and
network devices, such as"Ana lyzers ", to locate problems, and
then make corrections, such as swapping equipment or reconfiguring
segments, based on your analysis.
Transcend\u00ae provides another set of tools for
network
troubleshooting. These tools have graphical user interfaces that
make managing andtroubl esh oo ting yournetwork easier. With
"Transcend Applications", you can:
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Baseline your
network's normal status to use as a basis for
comparison when thenetwork operates abnormally
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Precisely monitornetw ork events
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Be notified immediately of critical problems on yournetw ork, such as a device
losing connectivity
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Establish alert thresholds to warn you of potential problems that you can correct
before they affect yournetw ork
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Resolve problems by disabling ports or reconfiguring devices
See"Your Network Troubleshooting Tool box" for details about each
troubleshootingtool.
Network Troubleshooting Framework
The International Standards Organization (ISO) Open Systems
Interconnect (OSI) reference model is the foundation of allnetwork
communications. This seven-layer structure provides a clear picture of
hownetwork communications work.
Protocols (rules) govern communications between the layers of a single
system and among several systems. In this way, devices made by
different manufacturers or using different designs can use different
protocols and still communicate.
By understanding how network troubleshooting fits into the
framework of the OSI model, you can identify at what layer problems
are located and which type oftroubl esh oo ting tools to use. For
example, unreliable packet delivery can be caused by a problem with
the transmission media or with a router configuration. If you are
receiving high rates of "FCS Errors" and "Alignment Errors", which you
can monitor with Status Watch, then the problem is probably located at
the physical layer and not the
network layer. Figure 1 shows how to
troubleshoot the layers of the OSI model.
Table 5 describes the data that the
network management tools can
collect as it relates to the OSI model layers.
Table 5 Network Data and the OSI Model Layers
Layer
Data Collected
TranscendcNCS Tool
Used
Application
Presentatio
nSession
Transport
Protocol information and other Remote Monitoring
(RMON) and RMON2 data
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LANsentry
Manager
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Traffix Manager
(for more detail)
NetworkRouting information
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Status Watch
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LANsentry
Manager
(for more detail)
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Traffix Manager
(for more detail)
Data Link Traffic counts and other packet breakdowns
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Status Watch
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LANsentry
Manager
(for more detail)
Physical
Error counts
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Status Watch
Figure 1 OSI Reference Model and Network Troubleshooting
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Network Troubleshooting Overview
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