Computer networks: architecture, protocols, and design

Networking

This report is a follow up to troubleshoot the multimillion-dollar life insurance firm Evco Insurance's corporate headquarters network. "Complex, converged, global networks are the critical underpinnings to today's business processes, communications, and productivity enabling applications." (Networkscouts.com) Initial information provided implies that there are network communication congestion problems and the marketing director stated that at some points of the day there can be 10 minute lags for emails. The Marketing Department has experienced the slowest response times after adding 40 new users to the existing 106. Upon inspection of the network closet, there were 8 excellent hubs with a flurry of lights flickering. The objective here is to brainstorm as to why the lag and poor response times could be occurring.

There are several areas to consider when a network's performance begins to deteriorate. The first concern is if one or several network applications are consuming more than their fair share of bandwidth. If this is the problem, all network applications would be directly effected. A second concern would be overall system congestion and packet collision. Is the network running like a Los Angeles freeway at rush hour or is it communicating efficiently? By the description of the original concerns this may seem unlikely, however, the possibility of some malicious software or virus must also be considered. And of course, as detailed, the overall system maintenance was non-existent even as new users were being added to the network. Hardware maintenance of the network topology is a serious concern and must be addressed right away. "The physical topology of a network refers to the configuration of cables, computers, and other peripherals." (University of South Florida)