Evaluating Your Network: How to Optimize Performance and Ensure Consistent, Secure Operation

Assess your Networking Needs

Understanding what your network is designed to do is the most important step in optimizing   network performance . It’s the groundwork that everything else is built upon, and even when working on an already existing network this is a critical step to ensuring smooth operation.

• What is this network used for?
• What kind of bandwidth is needed?
• What kind of hardware will help achieve this data-transfer target?
• How is the network’s topology separated?
• How many devices do I need for this topology?
• What kind of redundancy will be in place?

Analyze the Network

After answering the above questions, it’s time to look at the network itself, both at a hardware and software level. Begin by locating the network’s topology map to get a firm grasp on how everything fits together. Too often, networks are implemented without any map at all, which will eventually cause problems down the line. If one isn’t already drawn up, create one.

Go through each device and make sure it’s using proper cabling that is able to handle the tasks given to it. Most slowdowns are going to occur at the Network layer, but a little time spent ruling out obvious Physical layer issues will help with future troubleshooting.

On the same token, old devices should be checked for old or outdated firmware. Having the latest-and-greatest firmware isn’t always necessary, but having archaic firmware that lacks features needed to fit into the network can create critical issues that need to be fixed immediately.