Network Performance Management: 4 Practices You Need to Adopt
Your enterprise’s networks need to perform at or above the standards you require to operate successfully. Ensuring your network reaches that expected performance is no easy task, but using a network monitoring solution can help your team achieve that. A network monitoring tool allows your enterprise to track and evaluate your network’s performance metrics and find performance anomalies. Enterprises can leverage a network monitoring tool alongside effective network performance management practices.
Network performance management involves enforcing quality network performance by means of policies, workflows, and network operations. In essence, performance management encompasses the methods in which enterprises respond to network behavior. Your company’s specific management policies will depend on your network business needs, but there are some practices that any enterprise should adopt. Below, we discuss a couple of network performance management practices that will benefit any business.
Have reliable network performance data
The most essential step in effective network performance management is having the right performance damage to analyze. Your network generates a lot of data on its performance; gathering that data and applying the proper analysis to it is an excellent resource for managing your network. One way network monitoring tools determine network performance is by examining the data generated by your network. This data might include information on dropped network packets, bandwidth usage, and network node outages. The tool might simply display this information to your team, but some monitoring programs have artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning capabilities to perform basic analysis for you.
Log all performance issues
A key step in managing network performance is dealing with any performance problems that occur. A network monitoring tool should log all performance issues it discovers, including when and where they happened. Having this log allows your team to understand the issues that have affected your network. If you notice issues repeating in a certain area of your network, your network team will know that there’s a problem that requires investigation.
Know what performance metrics to analyze
Your network team can examine a lot of different performance metrics to see how your network is behaving. The key is understanding which of these metrics gives you the best overview of your network. That way, your network team can devise the best network management strategies and policies for your business. If your network continuously has problems with a particular area of performance – for example, the packet loss between two nodes is much greater than others – your team can devise management strategies that address these problems.
Addressing network security issues
Security threats, such as malware and unsecured devices, are a common cause of sloppy network performance. A network monitoring system is typically equipped with security protocols that are designed specifically for finding malware and other threat actors operating on your network. You can also employ protocols to discover where potential security breaches can happen by examining for gaps in your network’s security. If one area of your network isn’t secured tightly, it can become a huge problem in the future; finding gaps and eliminating them is a top priority for network management.
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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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