CompTIA exam study guide presentations by instructor Brian Ferrill, PACE-IT (Progressive, Accelerated Certifications for Employment in Information Technology) "Funded by the Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Grant #TC-23745-12-60-A-53" Learn more about the PACE-IT Online program: www.edcc.edu/pace-it

1. Analyzing
monitoring
reports.

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Instructor, PACE-IT Program – Edmonds Community College
Areas of Expertise Industry Certifications
 PC Hardware
 Network Administration
 IT Project Management
 Network Design
 User Training
 IT Troubleshooting
Qualifications Summary
Education
 M.B.A., IT Management, Western Governor’s University
 B.S., IT Security, Western Governor’s University
Entrepreneur, executive leader, and proven manger
with 10+ years of experience turning complex issues
into efficient and effective solutions.
Strengths include developing and mentoring diverse
workforces, improving processes, analyzing
business needs and creating the solutions
required— with a focus on technology.

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– Baselines.
– Reports.
PACE-IT.

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Analyzing monitoring reports.

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How do you know what
constitutes good network
performance and what
indicates an issue?
This is where baseline documentation comes into play. Baseline
documentation provides a snapshot of the network when it is
running efficiently. Baselines are usually kept as a log file,
although they may also be graphical in nature.
Baselines should be established on CPU utilization and network
utilization (and any other function you deem relevant). Periodic
tests should be conducted to determine if the baseline has
changed. You can use Windows Performance Monitor to help
establish the baseline.
Analyzing monitoring reports.

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– Items to consider for baselines.
» Network device CPU utilization.
• Can help to determine when a network device is going to fail.
• Can help to determine when more network devices should be
installed in a growing network.
» Network device memory utilization.
• Can help to determine when it is time to expand the memory
of network devices.
» Bandwidth utilization.
• Can help to determine the overall health of a network.
• Can help to determine when network segmentation should
occur.
• Can help to determine if a network device is failing (creating a
storm of data).
• Can help in identifying when a security breech has occurred.
Analyzing monitoring reports.

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– Items to consider for baselines continued.
» Storage device utilization.
• Can help to determine when storage utilization has become a
bottleneck on the network.
• Can help determine when to increase the storage capacity of
the network.
» Wireless channel utilization.
• Can help to determine how saturated the wireless channels
have become; once it is determined that they are saturated, a
new wireless access point (WAP) can be installed to alleviate
the pressure.
• Can help to determine if there is unauthorized wireless access
occurring (especially if there is utilization on a channel that is
supposed to have none).
Analyzing monitoring reports.

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Analyzing monitoring reports.

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– Log management.
» Log files can accumulate data quickly and some administrators
only review them after a major problem has occurred. In most
situations, this is a case of too much information.
• Good administrators will set proper reporting levels with their
logging software.
• Good administrators will review logs and compare them
against their baseline documentation to find issues while they
are still minor.
» Logs should be kept and archived in case there is a need for
historical data; follow the organization’s data storage policy.
» One consideration is to create a running graph of important
metrics that are captured by logs.
• Graphing the data gives a quick visual reference, making it
easier to spot issues.
• Many logging applications give the administrator the option of
creating graphs.
Analyzing monitoring reports.

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– Interface link status.
» When reviewing the output from an interface report, the first line
is usually a report on the status of the link.
• Fastethernet0/0 is up, line protocol is up (all is good).
• Fastethernet0/0 is up, line protocol is down (all is not good);
the interface is administratively up, but is not able to
communicate with the other end.
• Fastethernet0/0 is down, line protocol is up (all is not good);
there may be an issue with the cable or the physical port
itself.
• Fastethernet0/0 is down, line protocol is down (all is not
good, but all is not bad); the interface has been
administratively shut down.
– Problems on an interface.
» If the link status of the interface indicates that there are no
problems (the up and up state), but something is not operating
correctly, then it is time to dig a little deeper into the interface
monitoring reports.
Analyzing monitoring reports.

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– Interface monitoring reports.
» There are many things that can happen on a network device’s
interface to cause issues.
• In most cases, it will be required to log into the device and run
the device’s report to determine the cause of any problems.
» Speed and duplex settings (the most common problem):
• If there is a speed mismatch, the devices will not connect.
• A duplex mismatch will cause intermittent issues (e.g., errors
in output or input reports or dropped packets).
» Discards and packet drops:
• If the device is discarding incoming packets, then, more than
likely, the device’s CPU is being overutilized.
• If the device is dropping outgoing packets, then there is a
bandwidth congestion issue.
» Interface resets:
• If the interface keeps resetting, the most likely cause is a
communications issue between the two end points.
Analyzing monitoring reports.

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Analyzing monitoring reports.
Baselines are used to establish what network performance should be.
Periodic tests should be conducted against the baselines to determine if
they have changed. Functions that might benefit from having a baseline
include: network device CPU utilization, network device memory utilization,
bandwidth utilization, storage utilization, and wireless channel utilization.
Topic
Baselines.
Summary
Log files can accumulate data rather quickly. Administrators can help
manage the growth through setting the proper reporting levels. Log reports
do need to be reviewed and should be archived. Graphing log data can give
a visual reference that makes it easier to spot problems. Any interface link
status other than up and up indicates that there may be an issue. Problems
can still occur on a network interface, even when link status is up and up.
Issues that can occur include: speed and duplex mismatch, discarded and
dropped packets, and interface resets.
Reports.

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THANK YOU!

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U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration. The solution was
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Administration, Grant #TC-23745-12-60-A-53.
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