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Chapter 20: Management, Monitoring, and OptimizationInstructor:

Chapter 20 Objectives• The Following CompTIA Network+ Exam Objectives Are

Covered in This Chapter:

4.4 Given a scenario, use the appropriate network

monitoring resource to analyze traffic.

• SNMP

• SNMPv2

• SNMPv3

• Syslog

• System logs

• History logs

• General logs

• Traffic analysis

• Network sniffer

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4.5 Describe the purpose of configuration management

documentation.

• Wire schemes

• Network maps

• Documentation

• Cable management

• Asset management

• Baselines

• Change management

4.6 Explain different methods and rationales for network

performance optimization.

• Methods:

• QoS

• Traffic shaping

• Load balancing

• High availability

Chapter 20 Objectives (cont)

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• Caching engines

• Fault tolerance

• CARP

• Reasons:

• Latency sensitivity

• High bandwidth applications (VoIP, video applications, unified communications)

• Uptime

1.9 Identify virtual network components.

• Virtual switches

• Virtual desktops

• Virtual servers

• Virtual PBX

• Onsite vs. offsite

• Network as a Service (NaaS)

Chapter 20 Objectives (cont)

Management, Monitoring, and Optimization

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• Ending up with a great network requires some really solid planning before you buy even one device for it.

• Planning includes thoroughly analyzing your design for potential flaws and optimizing configurations everywhere you can to maximize the network’s future throughput and performance.

• Planning will enable you to efficiently troubleshoot any issues arising after everything is in place, up, and running.

Managing Network Documentation

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• Create documentation keep it safe in at least three forms:

– An electronic copy that you can easily modify after configuration changes

– A hard copy in a binder of some sort, stored in an easily accessible location

– A copy on an external drive to keep in a really safe place (even offsite) in case something happens to the other two or the building is destroyed

Using SNMP

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• Gathers data by polling the devices on the network from a management station at fixed or random intervals, requiring them to disclose certain information.

• Consequently, SNMP can help simplify the process of gathering information of your entire internetwork

• Can be used to either get information from the device about its state (SNMP GetRequest) or to make a change in the device’s configuration (SetRequest).

Schematics and Diagrams

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• Schematics and diagrams can be simple sketches created while brainstorming or troubleshooting on the fly; or they can be highly detailed, refined illustrations created with some of the flashy software packages available today.

• Fall into these three groups: – Wiring diagrams/schematics– Physical network diagrams– Logical network diagrams

Schematics and Diagrams

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• Wiring Schematics– Made up of cabled and other physical

media:coax, fiber, and twisted pair.

• For example, in an RJ45 connector, pin 1 is on the left and pin 8 is on the right, so clearly, within your UTP cable, make sure the right wires get to the right pins.

RJ45 Connector

Schematics and Diagrams

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• Wiring Schematics

– Cabling not created correctly will lead to disastrous results.

Crossover Cable Ends

Schematics and Diagrams

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• All wires have to plug in somewhere

• It’s really good to know where that is.

• Whether it’s into a hub, a switch, a router, a workstation, or the wall, you positively need to know the who, what, where, when, and how of the way the wiring is attached.

Schematics and Diagrams

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• Avoiding Confusion

– Come up with systems for naming devices and numbering connections that’s intuitive

• Physical Network Diagrams

– A physical network diagram contains all the physical devices and connectivity paths on your network and should accurately picture how your network physically fits together in detail.

Schematics and Diagrams

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• A more detailed physical network diagram is necessary in many cases.

Schematics and Diagrams

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• Detailed physical network diagrams are necessary even down to rack space.

Schematics and Diagrams

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• Schematics and Diagrams

– A logical network diagram includes protocols, configurations, addressing schemes, access lists, firewalls, types of applications, etc. that apply logically to your network.

Baselines

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• A baseline refers to the standard level of performance of a certain device or to the normal operating capacity for your network.

– A specific server’s baseline describes norms for factors like how busy its processors are

– How much of the memory it uses– How much data usually goes through the NIC at a given time

• Baselines include information about four key components:– Processor– Memory– Hard-disk (or other storage) subsystem– Network adapter or subsystem

Policies, Procedures, and Regulations

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• Policies govern how the network is configured and operated and how people are expected to behave on it.

– Clean-desk policies

– Network access (who, what, and how)

– Acceptable-use policy

– Disposal of network equipment

– Use of recording equipment

– How passwords are managed (length and complexity required, and how often they need to be changed)

– Types of security hardware in place

– How often to do backups and other fault-tolerant measures

– What to do with user accounts after an employee leaves the company

Policies, Procedures, and Regulations

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• Procedures are the actions to be taken in specific situations.

– Disciplinary action to be taken if a policy is broken

– What to do during an audit

– How issues are reported to management

– What to do when someone is locked out of their account

– How to properly install or remove software on servers

– What to do if files suddenly appear to be “missing”

– How to respond when a network computer has a virus

– Actions to take if a hacker has broken into the network

– Actions to take if there is a physical emergency

Policies, Procedures, and Regulations

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• Regulations are rules imposed on your organization by an outside agency, like a certifying board or a government entity

• IT regulations center around something known as the CIA triad– Confidentiality– Integrity– Availability

• Know the regulations your company is expected to comply with, and make sure your IT policies and procedures are completely in line with any regulations.

Monitoring the Network and Optimizing Its Performance

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• Network Monitoring and Logging

– Network Monitoring

– Syslog

– Server Logs

Reasons to Optimize Your Network’s Performance

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• Latency Sensitivity– VoIP

• Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) describes several technologies delivering voice communications over the Internet or other data networks

– Video applications

• High-Bandwidth Applications– VoIP– Video applications

• Uptime– Uptime is the amount of time the system is up and

accessible to your end users

Optimize Performance

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• Quality of Service (QoS)

– Quality of Service (QoS) refers to the way the resources are controlled

– QoS provides different priority of one or more types of traffic over other levels, to different applications, data flows, or users

• QoS methods focus problems that can affect data as it traverses network cable.

– Delay

– Dropped packets

– Error

– Jitter

– Out-of-order delivery

Optimize Performance

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• Traffic Shaping

– Traffic shaping, or packet shaping, is another form of bandwidth optimization which works by delaying packets meeting a certain criteria to guarantee usable bandwidth for other applications.

• Load Balancing

– Load balancing refers to a technique used to spread work out to multiple computers, network links, or other devices.

• High Availability

– High availability is a system-design protocol guaranteeing an amount of operational uptime for a given period of time.

Optimize Performance

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• Caching Engines

– A cache is a collection of data that duplicates key pieces of original data.

– A caching engine is basically a database on a server that stores information people need to access fast.

• Fault Tolerance

– Fault tolerance means that even if one component fails, you won’t lose access to the resource it provides.

• Common Address Redundancy Protocol– provides IP-based redundancy, allowing a group of hosts

on the same network segment (referred to as a redundancy group) to share an IP address.

Virtual Networking

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Summary

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• Summary

• Exam Essentials Section

• Written Labs

• Review Questions