Regardless of recent improvements in network performance and capacity, it is essential for network administrators to periodically assess the reliability of network technology and its ability to meet business needs. Consequently, network performance assessments can help organizations determine whether the programs, hosts, and applications that are installed on the corporate network function properly.



We are proficient in assessing the network performance of corporate and business units and help the organization to regulate and maintain their networks intact and hence protect the business productivity.



Benefits of Network Performance



Helps improve network utilization

Helps in capacity planning

Helps to manage network better

Helps in network performance optimization

Increases network productivity

Helps achieve organization to achieve its near goals/targets based on their network

Network components and devices

Data storage and route information

Type of data flowing in network (database, SMTP/POP3, SNMP, LDAP, etc.)

Big picture of network congestion points

Network component redundancy information

Importance of application to business

Best practices

Configuration issues

Current network setup and capacity

Current business requirements

Near future goals of the organization

Configuration issues (overall and individual) if any

Assessing Bandwidth Use as a Function of Network Performance

http://www.theiia.org/ITAuditArchive/index.cfm?catid=21&iid=571

http://www.theiia.org/ITAuditArchive/index.cfm?catid=21&iid=571 Essential Aspects of an Effective Network Performance Audit http://www.theiia.org/intAuditor/itaudit/archives/2007/december/essential-aspects-of-an-effective-network-performance-audit/

We start off the network performance assessment task, by first understanding the network setup. This can be achieved by reviewing the network diagram. Network diagram gives an overview of:Once the network setup and the information flowing in it is clearly understood, then NII consultants will start monitoring individual traffic on individual nodes for the volume of data transferred during typical times in the day and/or night. This exercise will give a clear picture of the company’s total bandwidth use.Then we will review the configuration of all network devices (e.g., routers, firewalls, printer settings etc) and the configuration of network applications (e.g., determining whether the server application is excessively querying clients). Reviewing of network applications typically includes:Protocol analysis is a prerequisite for the next step of Network performance analysis called ‘Data error rate’. In this, we go into the nitty-gritty of the protocols and have a closer look at the actual packets flowing on the network along with their volume and frequency.This helps in understanding, if there are some other protocols/packets flowing on the network un-intentionally or un-attended, which might be utilizing the network’s current bandwidth.Data collected from the previous step, will be an input to this exercise. One of the simple reasons why data errors occur is due to any losses of packets flowing within the network. In this phase, we will also check the end-to-end connectivity of cables using hardware cable testers.Once the network protocol and data error rates are analyzed, and then individual systems those contribute to the network usage issues are examined closely. These systems could be either a server (UNIX, Windows, Linux based), desktop machines (acting as clients to some applications), or network devices (switches, routers). Typically their overall configuration, system parameters, CPU utilization, network application usage etc will be reviewed in this stage.Post analysis step includes collection and co-relation of data collected during the entire exercise.Co-relation typically includes:Articles written by us and published in the IT Auditor magazine of the IIA can also be referred to: