Syngress - Eleventh Hour Network+ Exam N10-004 Study Guide (11 ...

148 CHAPTER 9 Network Management
Crunch Time
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to a location on the local hard drive or a network server. In other cases, the
system will provide a specific tool for viewing the information.
Password lists Password lists should contain all the passwords used to
perform administrative or maintenance tasks on the network. This includes
passwords for
■ Administrative and administrator account for servers and workstations.
■ Setup and configuration utilities on computers and other devices.
■ Administrative features in software.
■ Files, such as those containing other passwords or documentation
containing procedures.
Notification documentation Notification documentation includes contact
information for specific people in an organization, their roles, and when
they should be called. The contact information included in notification documentation
should provide several methods of contacting the appropriate
person. Notification procedures should also include contact information
for certain outside parties who are contracted to support specific systems.
Network Performance Optimization
Network performance optimization is the process of assessing the network’s status
on an ongoing basis by monitoring and discovering network traffic and logs. Possible
monitoring targets include the following: data rates, available bandwidth,
WAN link status, backup time, device response rate, and component failures. The
methods in which we will use to discover performance issues may include the
following:
Quality of Service (QoS) is a measure of value of a network
service compared with the expected or the predicted
performance quality that network service is actually producing
on your network.
QoS can assist in mitigating issues, such as
■ Dropped packets – Some, none, or all of the packets
might be dropped, depending on the state of the
network, and it is impossible to determine what will
happen in advance.
■ Delay/Latency – Overcrowded data links on routers
in the transit path of your packets could result in
a delay of data packets. Long queues or indirect
route avoiding congestion might be some causes
of latency within your network.
■ Jitter – When there are delays in transit, some
packets leaving after others might arrive at the destination
first. This variation in packet delay is called
“jitter.” Applications like Voice over IP (VoIP) cannot
be used effectively if jitter is excessive.
■ Errors – Sometimes packets are misdirected, or
combined together, or corrupted, while en route.
QoS protocols include the following:
■ Resource Reservation Protocol
■ Multiprotocol label switching
QoS models include the following:
■ Differentiated services (DiffServ) specifies a way
of classifying and managing network traffic on IP
networks.
■ Integrated services (IntServ) allows applications to
signal associated QoS requirements to the local
network before transmitting information.
There are eight levels of QoS as described in Table 9.1.