Simple steps to help you monitor and stay on top of all network troubleshooting efforts

Before we start counting the steps for troubleshooting, the first thing we have to do is, arrange networking components in a structured and systematic order. This will help us define the problem correctly and give us a clear idea about issues that happen regularly.

The few steps that are to be followed are:

1. Number each and every system at your office.
2. Number each connected router and switch in the network.
3. Number each cable that connects devices to the switch, and also those cables from the switch to the router. Name them in a good way so as to identify the cable from the name itself.
4. Check the performance of all PCs, wireless/wired routers, switches and the cables that connect each of these devices together.
5. By pinging, check the connection between routers and switches and also between switches and PC's. Note down if any packet loss occurs.
6. Check the RJ45 pins of each cable and re-crimp all defective cables.
7. Write a script to check the network connection, with the following behaviour: Whenever there is a connection issue, the script writes the error message to a text document. The script will be set as a cronjob so that it will ping every minute to check the network connection. Make sure that the script is running on atleast one of the PC’s which are connected to each switch.

Now you can see that everything is in a good ordered way. If any connection problem occurs you will be able to sort it out in much lesser the time than it took you before. The script to check the network connection would prove very useful as it will give you a clear idea of when and where the problem occurs.

Hope this article helps you in your Network Troubleshooting efforts. Let me know if you have anything more to add to this. Thanks!