How To Troubleshoot A Network
A wired or wireless computer network may face different types of problems such as lost connectivity, security related issues, unauthorized access, bottle neck, packet loss, configuration problems and network application related issues. Successful troubleshooting requires a logical, consistent and right approach by using the troubleshooting techniques and tools. Troubleshooting means recognizing, diagnosing and solving the computer networking issues and as system/network administrator your primary job responsibility is to maintain the network connectivity, security and performance.
You need to prepare yourself with the best troubleshooting approaches with the best techniques and tools any kind of scenarios. As the networks are becoming more and more complex and more technologies are incorporated, there is a need to update yourself with skills, expertise and the knowledge of the latest technologies. Providing the stable and computing environment is the responsibility of the network administrators and the other IT professionals. The first troubleshooting approach is to analyze the problem and find the right cause of it.
Connectivity Issues
Common Errors
- Request time our error
- Host unreachable
- Intermittent connectivity
- Limited or no connectivity
Solutions:
By default, Windows based operating systems such as Windows XP Professional, Windows 2000/2003/2008 servers offer many great diagnostic and troubleshooting utilities such as PING, IPconfig, Netstat, ARP, hostname and Nslookup etc. The connectivity issues are most likely related to the outdated LAN cards driver, faulty LAN card or hub/switch and physical media problem. If you are unable to access the other computer in your network your first troubleshooting technique should be to ping the other computer by its IP address. In case if you don’t get reply from the destination computer then you can do the following steps one by one to resolve the connectivity issues.
- Check the Ethernet cables connectivity at both ends.
- Turn off router/switch/hub for few minutes.
- Update the LAN card’s driver.
- Replace the LAN card with a new one and reconfigure it.
- Change the Ethernet cable.
- Restart the computer.
Security Issues
- Virus/Spyware/Adware/Trojans Attacks
- Unauthorized access
- Hacker’s Attack
- IP Spoofing
- Identity theft
- Easy Access to Network resources
- Eavesdropping
- Browser/Session hijacking
Solutions:
Security issues cannot be ignored in a network. To resolve the security related issues with your network like virus attacks, unauthorized access, eavesdropping, hacker’s attack and identify theft you need to perform the following.
- Install an up-to-dated antivirus program and scan your computer regularly.
- Install an up-to-dated anti spyware program and scan your computer regularly.
- Install and configure a software or hardware firewall to block the unauthorized access and monitor the incoming and outgoing traffic.
- Use strong passwords.
- Install a network security scanner on the gateway and all the computers of your network.
- Increase the security level of your browser.
- Block the risky websites and online applications.
- Network design plays an important role in the network security so design your network according to the future needs of your organization.
Performance Issues
- Slow network browsing/slow response time
- Bottle neck/Traffic Jam
- Slow response
- Slow web browsing
- Load balancing
- Bandwidth utilization
- Denial of service
- Network Latency
Solutions:
Sometime a computer network may face performance related issues like slow network browsing, bottleneck, slow web browsing, denial of service and slow application access. To resolve these and other related issues, you need to install network performance, monitoring and management software. Monitor the network activities, allocate the network resources and bandwidth by using the bandwidth utilization tools.
Delete the unused network shorts and the application shorts from your computer desktop. Monitor the network events and enable the logging. Disable the unused open ports and devices. Establish an alert threshold to warn you vie emails, SMS and system notification messages about the potential problems in your networks. Carefully monitoring, analyzing your network traffic, software applications and devices may lead to provide the increased performance of your computer network.
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