In order to be effective, an enterprise network needs to have a number of qualities. At its core, a network needs to be secured, provide full coverage of a company’s infrastructure, and operate in a fast manner. Increasing the speed of your network is one of the top priorities for enterprises and network teams. However, network speed can be influenced by a number of different factors. If your network is running slow, there are a number of potential reasons why.
Having a fast network is important not just for the network team, but for the entire company. Many mission-critical applications can’t operate without a network, and a slow network inevitably means those apps will be slow as well. Business use tools such as network performance monitors (NPMs) to track their network performance, including network speed, to ensure their network is operating correctly. If you want to improve your network speed, we’ve listed five ways your enterprise can help make your network run faster below.
Increasing bandwidth and throughput
Your network can only handle so much data transferal at any given time. If too much data is trying to flow through the network, that data flow will inevitably slow down. An NPM can tell you how much bandwidth your enterprise is using, letting you know if the company is reaching above the maximum data transmission rate. The problem also might be your network is constantly dropping data packets, forcing it to resend lost information and slowing the network down further. NPMs can track packet loss, giving you insights into the reliability of your network.
Examining network hardware
A network is only as good as the hardware it operates on. Faulty network hardware might be responsible for slowing data transferals down. If a network node goes down or needs to be checked/repaired, your NPM will alert you to the problem. Depending on the monitoring tool, it might also provide a diagnosis so you can get to the root of the issue faster.
Eliminating bottlenecks
Network congestion can pop up anywhere on the network, especially in areas that see a lot of use. Your network speed may be severely affected by areas of your network that act as performance bottlenecks. NPMs look for bottlenecks by examining for packet loss and checking network speed at every portion of the network.
Limiting network application use
Many enterprises run business-critical applications that utilize a network to function. While this can boost the effectiveness of the app, running too many business applications on a network can tank network speed. Any application that doesn’t need a network to operate should be taken off the network if it’s acting too slow.
Performing regular network speed tests
In most cases, network speed isn’t constant. Various factors affect how fast a network operates, and many of them won’t impact your network all the time. Thus, it’s important for network teams to perform network speed tests on a regular basis. Even if your network isn’t noticeably slow, your network speed could be affected by smaller, less significant issues. Network speed tests ensure you always know about any slowdown on your network, big or small.
Our Network Monitoring Buyer’s Guide contains profiles on the top network performance monitor vendors, as well as questions you should ask providers and yourself before buying.
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Daniel Hein
Dan is a tech writer who writes about Cybersecurity for Solutions Review. He graduated from Fitchburg State University with a Bachelor's in Professional Writing. You can reach him at dhein@solutionsreview.com
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