Chapter 6. Network Performance Analysis
Network uptime and optimum performance are a prime concern for any technician, and the issues that affect it could be one of many numerous issues, and completely depends on the size and complexity of the network under question. These anomalies can include the following, but are not restricted to them:
- Slow Internet
- Bottlenecks
- Loss of packets and/or retransmissions
- Excessive bandwidth consumption
- Unexpected BitTorrent traffic
An in-depth understanding of how the network protocols intertwine and work is indispensable to troubleshooting the network for performance issues. For example, if we don't understand TCP's flow and error control mechanism effectively, then we may not be able to efficiently test for TCP-based performance issues.
Many a time, I have had people ask me, "How can Wireshark fix my network issues?" Well, an honest answer to that would be that Wireshark might not always lead you to the root cause of the problem...
