M05 - Identify and Resolve Network Problems
M05 - Identify and Resolve Network Problems
Level-III
Based on Nov, 2023, Curriculum Version - II
Table Contents
Acronym............................................................................................................. v
Self-check 1....................................................................................................... 11
Self-Check 3...................................................................................................... 28
LAP Test.......................................................................................................... 32
References.........................................................................................................33
Reference Books................................................................................................. 33
Developer’s Profile.............................................................................................. 34
Ministry of Labor and Skills Version -1
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Level III
Ministry of Labor and Skills Version -1
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Level III
Acknowledgment
Ministry of Labor and Skills wish to extend thanks and appreciation to the many
representatives of TVET instructors and respective industry experts who donated their time and
expertise to the development of this Teaching, Training and Learning Materials (TTLM).
This module is designed to meet the industry requirement under the Hard Ware and Network
Servicing occupational standard, particularly for the unit of competency: Identifying and Resolve
Network Problems.
This guide will also assist you to attain the learning outcomes stated in the cover page.
Specifically, upon completion of this learning guide, you will be able to:
Set up log for Network Activities
Use network tools
Review documents and logs
Make recommendations for improving network performance
Finally, network security monitors or detectors monitor and alert of any suspicious
or malicious activity on the network, such as intrusions, attacks, or breaches. This
helps protect your network from threats, enforce policies, and comply with
regulations.
1.2.2. Benchmarking and Establishing reference point for network performance
As organizations come to rely more on network performance for daily business
functions, it’s essential to know how well your network is performing.
A simple network test or ping test can tell you what your upload and download
speed is at a given moment. However, without a baseline or benchmark to
compare it to, you won’t know whether it’s faster or slower than usual.
Your network benchmark is the standard against which other network speed tests
can be measured.
Ministry of Labor and Skills Version -1
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Level III
Benchmarking is a crucial part of network performance testing because it tells you
what “normal” is or should be. For example, a network benchmark gives you a
point of comparison to the test results you get as you’re troubleshooting a network
issue.
By performing the following kinds of network performance testing, you can find your network
performance benchmark.
Network Availability Testing
Network availability testing may be as simple as running a ping test that requests responses from
your network devices to ensure that everything is connected and operational.
Availability testing should be part of your network monitoring tools, or if you’re looking for a
free option, WireShark and NTOP offer free downloads.
By configuring the network, you may have identified how much bandwidth can be used
at once.
Determining bandwidth allocation can show you whether resources are being used
effectively, which may impact Quality of Service (QoS).
There are many tools available to help you measure and optimize bandwidth usage.
CompariTech put together a great list of bandwidth optimization tools, some of which offer
free downloads or trials:
SolarWinds Tools
SolarWinds Engineer’s Toolset
Paessler PRTG
ManageEngine Tools
ManageEngine OpManager Plus
Ipswitch WhatsUp Gold
Documenting Your Network Benchmark
Once you’ve completed your network testing and have identified your network benchmark,
make sure it’s documented and easy to find.
Your network benchmark should be used as a guide to help identify network slowdowns or
troubleshoot network issues, but if it’s not documented somewhere, it won’t be beneficial.
Remember that just collecting the logs is not enough. You need to
periodically review logs for unusual behavior, which can come from a combination of
automatic and manual efforts.
Your logging/alerting/correlation system, for example, can be configured as a
first-level triage for alerting on unusual behavior. But don’t rely on tools to be the be-all,
end-all of your log review.
You should configure log summary reports that are automatically emailed
periodically and then assign resources to review them monthly.
During the manual review, you can ensure the endpoints you are collecting
logs from match up with what is in your inventory and configure any new endpoints to
generate logs as needed.
You can also figure out if one or more log sources are failing collection for
any reason, and/or if log disk space for the next month will be sufficient.
It’s also a good idea to schedule regular simulations of events to make sure the
proper logs are generated. For instance, you could create a test account on the network,
adjust its rights and permissions, and then log into it with the wrong password enough
times to force a lockout. Ensure that logs were generated for each of these key events,
and give you enough information to answer the questions above.
Network performance can be boosted in several ways, both major and minor; depending on your
company’s needs, you’ll want to focus on improving specific aspects of network performance.
Below, seven ways listed that any company can enhance the performance of its networks.
Eliminate performance bottlenecks
Bottlenecks are some of the most common network performance problems that businesses
encounter. Even if one device is lagging behind the others, it can cause a wave of slow
performance that reaches several areas of the network.
Reconfigure your network hardware
Whenever you install or update a device onto your network, your company needs to ensure that
if configures the device correctly.
Communicate with your users on proper network usage
Your employees could be draining network performance without even realizing it. If your
employees are using bandwidth-heavy applications, streaming video or music, or downloading
several large files via your network, there’ll be much less traffic available for critical business
tasks.
Focus on problematic metrics
The specific performance problems that affect your business network will vary depending on
how your network is built and the tasks you need your network to perform.
Provide a separate guest network
Guests that visit your enterprise will want to access the Internet, but they can use valuable
bandwidth that your company could be using elsewhere. Ideally, your company will deploy a
separate network for guests to access so they can connect to the web while your business
resources are kept separate.
Compress data and network traffic
Companies are transmitting large quantities of data across their network every day, and the
amount of work a network needs to do to get that data where it needs to go increases alongside
it.
I. Say True if the statement is Correct and False if the statement is incorrect
1. A network monitoring system is capable of detecting and reporting failures of devices or
connections.
2. The first step to monitor network activity is to select the right tools for your needs and goals.
3. After we finished network testing and have identified your network benchmark,
documentation is not required
4. A Management Information Base (MIB) is a collection of manageable network objects.
II. Choose the correct answer
1. Among the following which one is not networking monitors tool?
A. Network analysers or sniffers
B. Network mappers or scanners
C. Network performance monitors or testers
D. None of the above
2. A network speed test will check:
A. Network upload
B. Download speeds.
C. Network Configuration
D. A and B
3. Network security monitors or detectors monitor and alert of any suspicious or malicious
activity on the network, such as:
A. Intrusions
B. Attacks
C. breaches.
D. All
III.Answer the following questions accordingly
1. List the different ways to measure network performance:
2. List the tools used to measure and optimize bandwidth usage:
This guide will also assist you to attain the learning outcomes stated in the cover page.
Specifically, upon completion of this learning guide, you will be able to:
The most common IT help desk problems typically sit in one of these areas:
User-Induced Problems
The inability to login to a device or application or accidentally deleting files on the hard drive,
end user-induced problems are frequently occurring IT help desk issues.
In any case, as the number of employees at your company grows, these individual issues will eat
up the time and focus of your IT help desk. In turn, it will take your help desk longer to get
through these issues, which will slow your workforce and your operations.
In addition to user reports and firsthand experience on the network, there are a number of tools
available for you to use when it comes to diagnosing and treating network issues. These tools
may exist in the computer’s operating system itself, as standalone software applications or as
hardware tools that you can use to troubleshoot a network.
Command-Line Tools
On Windows PCs, the command prompt can be accessed by searching for it in the start menu or
by typing “cmd” into the Run window. On a Linux system, you can press Ctrl + Alt + T to open
the command line.
The following commands can be entered into the command prompt one at a time to reveal
specific information about the network status:
ping — A TCP/IP utility that transmits a datagram to another host, specified in the
command. If the network is functioning properly, the receiving host returns the
datagram.
tracert/traceroute —A TCP/IP utility that determines the route data takes to get to a
particular destination. This tool can help you to determine where you are losing
packets in the network, helping to identify problems.
nslookup — A DNS utility that displays the IP address of a hostname or vice versa.
This tool is useful for identifying problems involving DNS name resolution.
ipconfig — A Windows TCP/IP utility that verifies network settings and connections.
It can tell you a host’s IP address, subnet mask and default gateway, alongside other
important network information.
ifconfig — A Linux or UNIX TCP/IP utility that displays the current network
interface configuration and enables you to assign an IP address to a network interface.
Like ipconfig on Windows, this command will tell you vital information about the
network and its status.
Packet Sniffer — Provides a comprehensive view of a given network. You can use
this application to analyse traffic on the network, figure out which ports are open and
identify network vulnerabilities.
Port Scanner — Looks for open ports on the target device and gathers information,
including whether the port is open or closed, what services are running on a given port
and information about the operating system on that machine. This application can be
used to figure out which ports are in use and identify points in a network that could be
vulnerable to outside attacks.
Protocol Analyzer — Integrates diagnostic and reporting capabilities to provide a
comprehensive view of an organization's network. You can use analyzers to
troubleshoot network problems and detect intrusions into your network.
Wi-Fi Analyzer — Detects devices and points of interference in a Wi-Fi signal. This
tool can help you to troubleshoot issues in network connectivity over a wireless
network.
Bandwidth Speed Tester — Tests the bandwidth and latency of a user’s internet
connection. This application is typically accessed through a third-party website and
can be used to confirm user reports about slow connections or download speeds.
Intermittent network issues frustrate users, affect business productivity, and are a nightmare for
all IT administrators because they are the most difficult to solve.
Network performance issues related to resource issues can mean different things, from
equipment problems to high CPU usage. Let’s break down some of the most common resource
issues:
Network Equipment & Devices: Sometimes, network issues occur within network
equipment or devices like Firewalls, Routers, Switches, Wi-Fi APs. Problems can be due
to bad configurations, faulty connections, and even packet loss. Obkio’s network device
monitoring solution easily monitors any SNMP-enabled network devices to ensure
performance and diagnose network issues affecting network devices.
High CPU Usage: The most common cause of high CPU usage is when your network
becomes bogged down by enormous amounts of traffic. CPU usage can increase
drastically when processes require more time to execute or when a larger number of
network packets are sent and received throughout your network. High CPU usage can
bog down your network, or leave not enough CPU for other processes.
Providing accurate and timely information to customers is a key skill for any support
role. It can help you build trust, loyalty, and satisfaction among your clients, as well as
improve your own efficiency and productivity. To do this;
One of the first steps to provide accurate and timely information to customers is to use
the right tools and resources for your support role. This can include software platforms,
knowledge bases, FAQs, manuals, guides, and other sources of information that can help
you find the answers to customer queries quickly and reliably.
A final way to provide accurate and timely information to customers is to follow up and
ask for feedback. This means checking in with the customer after you have provided
them with the information they requested, to see if they have any questions, concerns, or
issues.
The importance of support documentation becomes very clear when you have to sit down
and troubleshoot a network from top to bottom. Or when there’s a changing of the guard at
your company. New management wants to see what you’re doing with your network. Or
new IT staff need to be brought up to speed quickly.
I. Say True if the statement is Correct and False if the statement is incorrect
1. A down network or printer could bottleneck your operations, so solving them is usually an
urgent issue for IT help desks.
2. Packet Sniffer Provides a comprehensive view of a given network.
3. Protocol analyzer Looks for open ports on the target device and gathers information,
II. Choose the correct answer
In cases of application failure, slow system response, the potential cause might be a
network problem.
It might be difficult to determine that the cause of these issues is a network problem
because the symptoms might manifest on one node when they are caused by a failure or
error on another node.
It might also be difficult to isolate the cause of the network problem to a specific
hardware component or configuration setting.
The potential source of a network problem can be classified into one of three main categories:
Hardware failure
Configuration error
Traffic overload
A general diagnostic method can be used to determine the potential source of a network
problem:
Check for connectivity between all IP addresses in the network using the ping command.
If there are IP addresses that fail the connectivity test it might be a hardware failure or
configuration error that is causing the network problem.
Check for hardware errors on the devices assigned to those IP addresses. You can use
the errpt -a command on each node suspected of network issues to view the system error
log.
Check all of the configuration settings on the failed devices and verify that they have
been set correctly.
If the connectivity test is successful, the network problem might be caused by traffic
overload. To diagnose this problem, you need to perform a network performance test.
Offering network maintenance services not only ensures that systems, equipment, and
applications always run at peak efficiency and security, but it also can save clients time and
money by:
Supporting continuous operations and productivity
Preventing unexpected and expensive repairs or downtime
Ensuring cybersecurity measures are working as intended to stop and mitigate breaches
and leaks
Complete coverage of all network support and maintenance tasks requires a range of expertise
and skills. While there may be some overlap in responsibilities, typical key IT roles that handle
maintenance include:
Network technician. These professionals are typically responsible for installing,
configuring, and troubleshooting network devices and hardware, as well as for checking
physical connections and cables.
Network engineer. Engineers tend to focus on maintaining network architecture as a
whole, addressing specific aspects or devices as needed to ensure smooth operations.
Network administrator. People in this role manage the complete infrastructure of a
network, including maintenance. They may create or oversee maintenance checklists and
schedules.
Whether you are upgrading your network, replacing faulty devices, or consolidating your
infrastructure, you need to dispose of the obsolete equipment in a safe and responsible way.
some of the best practices for disposing of old network hardware, including data security,
environmental impact, and legal compliance.
Data security
One of the most important aspects of disposing of old network hardware is ensuring that the data
stored on it is erased or destroyed. Network devices such as routers, switches, firewalls, and
servers may contain sensitive information such as passwords, configurations, logs, and user data.
If this data falls into the wrong hands, it could compromise your network security and expose
you to legal risks.
Environmental impact
Another aspect of disposing of old network hardware is minimizing the environmental impact.
Network devices contain various materials and components that can be harmful to the
environment and human health if they are not disposed of properly.
Legal compliance
A third aspect of disposing of old network hardware is complying with the legal requirements
and standards for data protection and waste management. Depending on your industry, location,
and type of data, you may have to follow certain laws and regulations that govern how you
handle and dispose of old network hardware.
Inventory management
A fourth aspect of disposing of old network hardware is managing your inventory and assets.
Disposing of old network hardware means that you have to update your records and
documentation to reflect the changes in your network infrastructure.
Cost optimization
A fifth aspect of disposing of old network hardware is optimizing your costs and budget.
Disposing of old network hardware can have both positive and negative impacts on your network
expenses.
I. Say True if the statement is Correct and False if the statement is incorrect
1. One of the most important aspects of disposing of old network hardware is ensuring that the
data stored on it is erased or destroyed.
2. A general diagnostic method can be used to determine the potential source of a network
problem.
3. Network technicians are only responsible for Network installation.
II. Choose the correct answer
1. ______ are focus on maintaining network architecture as a whole.
A. Network Admin
B. Network Engineer
C. Network Technician
2. The best practices for disposing of old network hardware is :
A. Data security
B. Environmental impact
C. Legal compliance.
D. All
III. Explain the following Terms accordingly
1. Diagnosing network problems
2. Storing or disposing components
3. Inventory management
Equipment, tools and materials required: Computer installed with Network operating system
Procedures:
Use the fallowing Procedures:
Task 1. check basic connectivity to other devices on the network Using ping command
Step 1. Open Command prompt
Reference Books
A. CCNP(R): Cisco Internetwork Troubleshooting Study Guide (642-831)
(Author Pfund, Todd Lammle, Sybex)
B. Networking Bible (Author Barrie Sosinsky)
F. Network Know-How: An Essential Guide for the Accidental Admin (Author John Ross
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