This blog post talks about network performance, its importance, how to measure network performance and network metrics that help you monitor network performance.
In this post, we will cover the following topics:
1. What is Network Performance?
Network performance refers to the quality of service provided by the network to the user. A number of processes and tools can be used to collect data regarding qualitative and quantitative network performance. The network statistics thus collected are analyzed and assessed to define the quality of services offered by the network. In other words, network performance measures the overall quality of service of a network.
2. Why Do You Need To Measure Network Performance?
A functioning network doesn’t always imply a lack of network issues. The demands on networks are ever-increasing as organizations adopt more SaaS and cloud applications, making the delivery of reliable internet services an absolute necessity. Effective network performance is necessary for user satisfaction- internal and external, employee productivity, and efficiency.
Network performance measurement helps you analyze networks and locate issues before they start disruptions such as network slowdowns or outages. Monitoring your network performance helps you ensure that:
Your network is able to use the Internet speeds you are paying for
The performance of network components is optimal
Identify bottlenecks and performance issues before they blow out
Determine the right time for a network upgrade
In a modern business environment, network downtime and bottlenecks can quickly escalate into IT crises and major service disruptions can lead to a business crisis. Therefore, monitoring performance on an ongoing basis is not only necessary for ensuring network service quality but also for avoiding business interruptions and inefficiencies.
3. How to Measure Network Performance
Networks vary widely in their nature and design and so do the ways to measure network performance. Most commonly, the performance of a network is measured using network monitoring tools that measure the metrics that characterize a network. These tools are of two types:
Active network performance measurement tools
Active performance measurement tools test networks by inserting test traffic and tracking its path toward a destination. This is done by sending ICMP packets to collect measurements between endpoints in a network.
Passive network performance measurement tools
Passive network measurement tools gather data on performance metrics by monitoring existing applications on the network. Because no additional traffic is introduced in the network, this type of tool minimizes network disruption.
4. What Are The Network Performance Metrics?
A comprehensive network performance measurement consists of metrics that measure the performance across two broad categories, namely, data speed and data quality. Both of these categories are crucial from a user perspective. With that in mind, the following network metrics are considered the most important:
1. Bandwidth
Literally, bandwidth means the width of a frequency band. In the context of a network, bandwidth refers to the number of bits per second transmitted over the network connection in a given amount of time. As a result, it is also referred to as data rate. The more bandwidth your network has, the more data can be sent and received over it at one time. Bandwidth is normally measured in bits per second (bps) but networks nowadays have high capacity measured in Mbps or even Gbps.
For example, you can say that the bandwidth of a network link is 100 Mbps. Bandwidth, therefore, tells you the amount of data that can be transferred over a given time period. But bandwidth is a measure of capacity and not speed. The maximum data rate available on a link and the number of bits per second actually transmitted in practice is usually different.
The bandwidth of your network connection is not an unlimited resource. All the devices using the same network connection share the bandwidth. Therefore, the bandwidth is rate-limited by your network administrator or internet service provider (ISP). And as you can imagine, the cost of an Internet connection from your ISP goes up with the increase in bandwidth.
Modern businesses have high bandwidth requirements for maintaining tolerable speeds and user satisfaction. A simple VoIP call requires just 80Kbps while 4k ultra HD video streaming on YouTube requires around 25 Mbps. Your network bandwidth requirement depends on the following:
Number of simultaneous users,
Applications used, and
Bandwidth requirement of each application
2. Throughput
Network throughput refers to the amount of data successfully passing through a network from one point to another in a fixed amount of time. It is measured in bits per second (bit/s or bps).
At a rudimentary level, the main function of a network is to transmit data from one network node to another. The throughput of a network shows how a network is performing this basic function rather than how it is capable of performing it. This makes throughput the most important performance metric for most users.
Throughput is dependent on the available bandwidth, hardware capabilities, and signal-to-noise ratio. Because of the dependencies and inefficiencies of implementation, a pair of network nodes connected by a link with a given bandwidth will have a much lower throughput. For example, a link of 100 Mbps may achieve a throughput of only 30 Mbps.
In common parlance, the Internet connection speed is commonly used to refer to the throughput. Therefore, the common way of measuring the network throughput is using Speed Tests.
3. Latency
Network latency is a measure of the time taken by data to reach its destination across a network. Network latency is measured in milliseconds (ms) as a round trip delay, i.e. the time taken for the data to reach its destination and then back to its source.
It is not possible to eliminate network latency completely so the goal is to reduce latency times to a value that does not impact network performance. In most cases, latency times are virtually undetectable from a user’s perspective and go unnoticed. However, when using voice over internet protocol (VoIP), or communication systems such as Zoom, Google Meets, Microsoft Teams, etc. high latency can cause severe issues.
Latency has a huge impact on network performance. This is because devices on your network typically use the TCP/IP protocol, which sends a limited amount of data and waits to receive an acknowledgment from the destination before sending any more data. Therefore, latency directly impacts the throughput of your network, making it an important metric of network performance.
4. Jitter
Network jitter is the variability of the network latency over time. Information is transmitted over a network in the form of data packets. As we have seen in the previous section, due to latency, the data packets are sent at regular intervals and take a fixed amount of time to reach the destination. Variation in the time taken to receive the packets is called jitter. On a video call, when you see the video or hear the audio slow down or speed up significantly, that’s due to jitter.
Jitter is usually caused by network congestion and sometimes by route changes. Jitter can be an annoying and frustrating problem when using real-time apps such as VoIP, video conferencing, and virtual desktop infrastructure. The longer the data packets take to reach the destination, the worse will be the quality of the network connection.
5. Packet Loss
As we mentioned earlier, information is transmitted over a network in the form of data packets. When one or more of these data packets that were successfully sent out fail to reach their destination, it is called packet loss. From a user’s perspective, packet loss can cause network slowdowns, disruption in service, and even loss of network connectivity. Packet loss causes disruption for all applications but is most evident in the case of real-time applications such as VoIP, video conferencing, gaming, etc.
6. Uptime
Uptime is the measure of how reliable your network is. It is arguably the most important metric because, for modern businesses that depend on high availability, an unreliable network is like a death knell. Accurate measurement of your network’s uptime helps you determine network efficiency and set user expectations.
Conclusion
Every business wants its network to work efficiently without issues. But due to the nature of the electronics and various complexities, networks can never run smoothly without errors. However, with constant monitoring and quick rectification of small issues, major outages, and unplanned downtime can be prevented.
Network performance metrics help you determine the service quality of the network, how the performance stacks up to the designed expectations, and discover problems before they become big. Apart from the number of users and applications, network performance depends on your network infrastructure and network security. So, to get the best performance out of your network you need to address all the different aspects of your network.
Do you need help improving the performance of your office network? Reach out to us by clicking the button below and find out how we can help you make your network and Wi-Fi fast, efficient, and secure.
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About The Author
Hari SubediMarketing Manager at Jones IT
Hari is an online marketing professional with a focus on content marketing. He writes on topics related to IT, Security, Small Business, and Mindfulness. He is also the founder and managing director of Girivar Kft., a business services company located in Budapest, Hungary.