NETWORKING TROUBLESHOOTING

NETWORKING TROUBLESHOOTING

NETWORK TYPES
NETWORK MEDIA
TROUBLE SHOOTING NETWORKS

NETWORK TYPES

PEER-TO-PEER
CLIENT SERVER
TERMINALS

PEER-TO-PEER:
Peer-to-peer is a network where there is no cauterized server to share resources or common administration of users and resources. This network can be setup between two computers by a cross-over cable (CAT) and RJ-45 jack or between more then two computers through a network hub/switch using straight through cable. Primary requirement is that the computer should have a network card installed and commonly used protocol is TCP/IP. In cross-over cabling the 8 color coded wires at both the ends A & B are crimped into the RJ-45 jack in the following pattern: end A - 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 and end B - 3,6,1,4,5,2,7,8. As 1-3, 2-6, cross-over 4,5,7,8 are straight through. Give each color a number and you will get it correct. The computers share resources, such as files and printers, each computer is responsible for its own security, each computer acts as both a client and server. 

COLOR CODE STANDARDS: The Transmitter (TX) pins are connected to corresponding Receiver (RX) pins. Plus is connected to plus and minus is connected to minus. 

CLIENT SERVER:
A server based network includes a group of computers called clients. These clients request and receive network services from specialized more powerful computers called servers. Servers are higher performance systems providing network services to other computers. Some common server types include file servers, terminal servers, print servers, proxy servers, mail servers and application servers. In a server based network, resources are located on a server or group of servers. Server are also used to authenticate user accounts at login and put restriction on accessing resources.

TERMINALS:
Terminals are computers that do not have operating system installed or any storage space in them. The are fully reliable on the Terminal server for applications and resources. They have a boot ROM chip on the system board which helps it to connect to the terminal server over the network. Once it is connected to the server it utilizes the application and resources on the server.

NETWORK MEDIA

NETWORK ADAPTER CARD
TWISTED PAIR CABLE
SWITCH / HUB
REPEATER
BRIDGE

GATEWAY

NETWORK ADAPTER CARD:

 

The network adapter is a PCI card which connects the computer to the cable for transmitting data. In recent motherboards this is built-in.

TWISTED PAIR CABLE:

Commonly used cable in LAN networks. Before twisted pair, coaxial was used but had limitation in speed and connectivity. Twisted pair comes in shielded (STP) and unshielded (UTP) and also has grade/category. Presently most networks run using Category 5 (CAT-5) cable with a speed of 100 Mbps. With more advancing of technology CAT-6 is available with a speed of 1000 Mbps. The network adapter card, switch etc. used in the network for 1000 Mbps should also support or be of the same standard or speed.

SWITCH / HUB:

 

Provides a attachment point for network cabling. Earlier Hubs were used, which had some limitations, now Switch are used as they are more advance then the Hub.

REPEATER:

 

Repeater renews a signal and is used to enlarge the network beyond cabling limitations.

BRIDGE:

Used to connect two networks. Bridge knows on which side a node is located. A bridge passes only packets addressed to computers across the bridge, reducing the load on the transmission medium.

GATEWAY:

Gateway is a point on a network, which can be a computer or router, which acts as a point of exit for data on it's network.

TROUBLE SHOOTING NETWORKS

       If the network cable connected to the network card of your PC is completely unplugged or disconnected, it will appear on your Network Connections window. But if the cable is damaged or partially removed may not appear as unplugged or disconnected. Check the lights on the network adapter or port on your PC. If this seems ok then check the light on the port of the Switch to which your PC’s network cable is connected. Try reseating it or changing the port. If you are convinced that your hardware is working fine, then you can try looking into the network configuration. Click Start, Run, type cmd, you will get the command prompt window, type ipconfig and hit the Enter key, this will display your IP Address, Subnet Mask, and Default Gateway. If you require the configuration in detail then type ipconfig /all and it will display your IP Address, Subnet Mask, Default Gateway, DNS and DHCP. Looking at these you will know if your system is having the correct configuration or is some entry wrong or missing. If you do not assign your system IP address it automatically assigns from 169.254.__.__. If you have assigned and still it uses the automatically assigned IP address then the system has problem connecting to the network. Another tool that you can use is PING. In the command prompt type ping leave a space and then the IP address of another system if you receive reply then your computer is able to connect, if you receive “request timed out” means it is unable to connect.

TROUBLE SHOOTING TIPS:

1.      Check logs in the event viewer to see if there is any event that can be of assistance to you to find out which device or driver is causing trouble.

2.      Check the BIOS settings to see if the devices are enabled.

3.      Check if the power cables are properly connected and switched on.

4.      Does the problem occurs during the execution of any particular program.

5.      Is the problem related to any device or application?

6.      During what conditions does it occur?

7.      Has it occurred in the past, if yes then what measures were adapted?

8.      Which software was recently installed and did it work correctly in the past.

9.      Which hardware was recently installed and did it work correctly in the past.

10.  Do these Software/Hardware work fine on other systems.