Network troubleshooting tools

•Network Management System Tools

•Knowledge Bases

•Baselining Tools

Common software troubleshooting tools include these:

NMS tools

•include device-level monitoring, configuration, and fault-management tools.

•These graphical tools can be used to investigate and correct network problems.

Knowledge Bases

•On-line network device vendor knowledge bases are very useful.

•When vendor-based knowledge bases are combined with Internet search engines, a network administrator has access to a vast pool of experience-based information.

Baselining Tools

•Many tools for automating the network documentation and baselining process are available.  For example:

•SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor

Protocol analyzers

are useful to investigate packet content while the content is flowing through the network.

protocol analyzer

A __ __  decodes the various protocol layers in a recorded frame and presents it in an easy to use format.

Digital Multimeters

Cable Testers

Cable Analyzers

Portable Network Analyzers

Network Analysis Module

There are multiple types of hardware troubleshooting tools including:

Digital Multimeters

are test instruments that are used to directly measure electrical values of voltage, current, and resistance.

Cable Testers

are specialized handheld devices designed for testing the various types of data communication cabling.  They can be used to detect broken wires, crossed-over wiring, shorted connections, and improperly paired connections.  More expensive time-domain reflectometers (TDRs) are used to pinpoint the distance to a break in a cable.

Cable Analyzers

are multifunctional handheld devices that are used to test and certify copper and fiber cables for different services and standards.

Portable Network Analyzers

are used for troubleshooting switched networks and VLANs.

•By plugging the network analyzer in anywhere on the network, a network engineer can see the switch port to which the devices is connected. 

•They can also see the average and peak utilization as well as the VLAN configuration. 

NAM

is a device or software. 

•It provides an embedded browser-based interface that generates reports on the traffic that consumes critical network resources. 

•The __ can capture and decode packets and track response times to pinpoint an application problem to a particular network or server.

Syslog

is a simple protocol used by an IP device known as a syslog client to send text-based log messages to another IP device known as the syslog server.