NETWORK EVALUATION

Evaluation of Company's Network



Evaluation of Company's Network

The technology, functioning, connectivity and security of the company's computer networks will be evaluated on the following 15 Points.

Evaluation of Network and Data Security logs

The network and data security logs of the company will be evaluated. These logs will help the evaluation process to be critical and analytical for finding out the existing flaws in the systems

Also, evaluation of logs, will help the company in upgrading the log lists, if required. This upgrade of log records will help in future investigations of the systems.

Evaluation of cabling between the computer terminals

Cabling is the lifeline of the company's network; therefore, as the first step, cabling between the computers will be evaluated. The old or damaged cables may be affecting the speed and over all reliability of the network's connectivity. Such cabling issues may also result in the intermittent network drops (Friend M., 2006).

In addition to checking for the cabling, the network interface cards (NIC) will also be evaluated. This is the hardware over which the computers communicate over the network. This hardware is responsible for controlling the speed of data transmission and reception. The evaluation of NIC is important, as a fast network will not work efficiently in the case where the computers equip with slow or outdated NIC's.

Evaluation of Network Switches and Hubs

The issues with switches and hubs can degrade the performance of the entire network. To assure the efficient performance of network devices, any simulation software will be used for creating the environments and testing the operations of the company's network under varying workloads and network conditions.

For evaluation purpose, the software Web NMS Simulation Tool kit will be used. It will test and evaluate the network efficiently without the need of extensive laboratory or expensive testing devices (Web NMS, 2012).

Evaluation of Company's Router

The router will be evaluated for the installation of latest patches and upgrades. The history of the routing issues will be reviewed, and the vulnerable ports are evaluated. The administrative interfaces to the routers are monitored for ensuring the security.

Other router's features such as, use of strong passwords, large ping packets screening, blockage of unused services, blockage of RIP packets will be monitored.

Evaluation of Server Connectivity

The connectivity between the workstations and the server plays a vital role for the execution of daily operations of the company. This connectivity will be evaluated critically.

The server and workstations connectivity will be evaluated under varying traffic conditions, which can be generated through simulations, or monitoring can be done in different hours of the day.

Evaluation of Company's Internet Connection

As much of the business done in the company is based on online activities, the internet connection evaluation will be one of the important tasks. The company is using both wired and wireless technologies for keeping all the systems of the company connected.

The wi-fi and cable internet connections will be evaluated for the ...