Network bottlenecks can be a real problem for businesses that depend on significant data transmission as a part of their day-to-day operations. More companies than ever use a lot of different technologies that chew through bandwidth and it can cause their network to move slowly. Let’s go through some of the steps you should take to eliminate these network bottlenecks.
Identify Bottlenecks
The first step you need to take is to identify any bottlenecks that are affecting your business’ computing. The most comprehensive way to do this is through consistent monitoring. Using network monitoring tools, you can identify the utilization of any device on your network that may be consuming too much bandwidth. With these tools you can also measure latency across different segments of the network, a frequent variable in slow transmission of data.
Keep Network Hardware Updated
The health of your network has quite a few devices it depends on. If any of these devices stops working properly it can jam up the entire thing. You will want to plan for regular upgrades to replace your modem, router, and network switches every few years as devices become more likely to fail over time, and newer devices tend to have better security and performance. Another consideration is the cables you use. For business networks, you should have higher-grade cabling installed (such as CAT6 or CAT7) that allow for faster transmission speeds.
Optimize Network Configuration
There are three basic ways that you can optimize your organization’s network configuration. You can balance your loads, meaning that you distribute network traffic across multiple servers to keep any single point from being overwhelmed; you can implement quality of service (QoS) policies that work to prioritize mission critical traffic, especially if your organization uses Internet-based communications, and, you can set up virtual local area networks (VLANs) to reduce unnecessary congestion on specific parts of your network. The IT professionals at Data Net can assist you with any and all of these actions to help you keep your network working effectively.
Keep IT Updated
Regular maintenance of your information systems and your network tools can go a long way toward keeping network congestion from being a problem for your organization. We suggest implementing a proactive management strategy that allows you to update, monitor, and otherwise manage your network-attached systems.
Base-Level Changes
Besides the more in depth actions you can take, you can always increase your network bandwidth from your ISP. It will cost a little more, but if you run into downtime and inefficiency frequently, you are losing more than you would pay for higher bandwidth. You can also do things that reduce your network traffic at any one time. One strategy that has borne fruit is called traffic shaping. It is where a business works to limit non-essential traffic during peak times.
Regardless of your position, network bottlenecks can be a major problem if they aren’t confronted. If you would like to speak to one of our IT experts about your business’ network and IT management, give us a call today at (760) 466-1200.
