Network Performance Problems

Network performance problems are one of the plagues of the modern age. People have come to depend on wired and wireless LAN networks at home and in the workplace. These networks have improved productivity for many businesses and employees, but they have become so integrated into many business structures that network slowdown often constitutes a company-wide crisis. Three of the most common network performance problems are exhaustion of bandwidth, bottlenecks and hacking (causing DoS or DDoS).

Network performance inevitably slows down when there is not enough bandwidth to go around for all of the users of the network. Building a bigger network is not always an option, so steps must be taken to monitor bandwidth patterns. Certain programs are designed to monitor network usage, and these programs can break down bandwidth use by protocol and by station, allowing administrators to plan the distribution of network resources. Bandwidth restrictions can be placed on stations or users that are using an excessive amount of network resources. Monitoring also helps administrators to seek out technical or connection problems that may be contributing to bandwidth losses.

Bottlenecking is similar to overextended bandwidth in that network performance slows, but in this case the problem occurs between stations and routers, as opposed to originating at user stations. Once again, accurate monitoring is the key to solving this problem. Once you can determine where the bottleneck occurs, you can either fix the problem (if it is hardware related) or re-route the data streams to achieve more efficient data transfer.

Network Performance Problems: Outside Influences

One of the most dangerous network performance problems is outside infiltration of your network. Network abuse can lead to Denial of Service (DoS) and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS). The difference between DoS and DDoS is that a DoS attack is launched by one user in order to cause a breakdown in service, while a DDoS attack is launched by numerous hackers as part of a coordinated effort. There is no set solution to thwarting such attacks, as new dangers are created every day. In order to minimize the effects of DoS or DDoS, some strategies include working with a large, established ISP, increasing your own server and networking capacities (thus making each attack less formidable due to the sheer size of your network), and carefully monitoring and analyzing your network traffic to enable you to catch aberrant network behavior as quickly as possible.