When a user complains that “something is broken in the network”, it frequently takes network engineers many hours, sometimes days to find out what the problem is and fix it. MTTR can be improved dramatically if the right data is available – problems can be identified and resolved within minutes of the problem occurring if the right instrumentation is in place.
Learn how to accelerate network issue detection and resolution with proactive and automated troubleshooting methods.
The Challenges of Traditional Network Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting problems is the bane of any network or UC team, as they typically struggle with a number of unknowns in their environment while trying to achieve resolution and user satisfaction in a very short amount of time. At some point, manually troubleshooting your network becomes a giant, time-consuming risk. Problems can take many hours, sometimes days, to identify and fix, and transient issues may go undetected for months due to the size and complexity of modern networks.
Traditional network troubleshooting involves a lot of manual processes and guesswork. Engineers often have to sift through vast amounts of data and logs to isolate and define the problem. This can be extremely time-consuming, leading to prolonged downtime and user dissatisfaction. Moreover, the lack of systematic approaches and tools often results in human errors and inconsistent results.
Optimizing Your Troubleshooting Methodology
Problems can be identified and resolved faster when the appropriate criteria are evaluated. This includes collecting the right type of information within the right timeframe and with the right correlation, along with analysis that speeds understanding of the situation.
In almost all cases, timeframe is critical: If you knew what your network was doing at the time of the event, problems could be solved in minutes, rather than hours or days.
The standard troubleshooting formula involves a systematic approach: Define, Isolate, and Solve. Once the basics, like ensuring it isn’t a physical-layer problem, are checked, the real troubleshooting starts. This often involves a rule-in and rule-out process to help narrow down the location and cause of the problem. Optimizing this methodology involves automating data collection and employing sophisticated analysis tools to speed up the process.
Benefits of Automating Network Troubleshooting
Network troubleshooting automation can offer numerous benefits, addressing the challenges faced by network monitoring professionals. Automated tools expedite the identification and resolution of issues, significantly reducing downtime and enhancing network performance. Automation minimizes human error, ensuring consistent monitoring and reporting, and allows IT resources to be reallocated to strategic tasks rather than repetitive troubleshooting.
By automating network troubleshooting, organizations can achieve faster and more efficient problem resolution. This not only improves network performance but also restores user confidence and reduces operational costs. Automated tools can swiftly identify the root cause and its location, essentially completing the first two (most time-consuming) steps of the troubleshooting process so that engineers can begin working on the solution.
Proactive Network Troubleshooting: Prevent Problems Before They Occur
Proactive network troubleshooting allows engineers to anticipate and prevent problems before they occur. When it comes to network errors, proactive management is the only practical strategy, as opposed to reactive troubleshooting. This involves automatic collection of all the information available on the network’s condition, automatic correlation of the information to determine where along a path the problem occurred, and automated analysis to provide plain-English answers.
The benefits of proactive network monitoring are significant. It allows for early detection and resolution of issues, improved network performance, enhanced network security, reduced downtime, and cost savings. Additionally, troubleshooting can often be done by Tier-1 helpdesk staff, reducing the need to escalate issues to senior-level network engineers and enabling more problems to be solved with first-call resolution.
How TotalView Improves MTTR for Network Operations
TotalView optimizes the root-cause troubleshooting process and addresses the drawbacks of traditional monitoring solutions. It collects all of the interface information from every interface on the network on a regular basis. The information is collected with a high degree of packet optimization, so links don’t get flooded and device CPUs aren’t affected. It then analyzes this information to determine the root-cause problem and spell it out in plain English.
TotalView provides timeframe analysis to do evaluations of what happened when events occurred and correlates the information to identify the links, switches, and routers involved between any two endpoints. Its heuristics engine analyzes the error counters to produce plain-English answers to the problems. This means that problems can be identified and resolved within minutes because the right information is brought to bear, significantly improving MTTR for network operations.
