Planning for Network Growth

Top Conversations

 

Converting Segments to Desktop Switching

 

If a workgroup has high network utilization and cannot be divided, the

 

Network Performance Advisor may recommend converting the segment’s

 

topology to desktop switching, giving each node a dedicated port.When two

 

nodes need to exchange data, the switch makes a connection with the dedi-

 

cated segments of each node. Extraneous traffic to the nodes is eliminated

 

and each node uses the full capacity of the network. Converting a segment to

 

desktop switching is most effective when the nodes can be placed on higher

 

speed ports to offset the latency of the switch.

 

 

N o t e

If your network has a lot of multimedia or multicast traffic, or if you have

 

configured VLANS, a desktop switching environment is the recommended

 

solution.

 

Upgrading Segments to Faster Speed Media

 

 

The Advisor may recommend that a shared segment’s speed be increased

 

when:

 

1. The segment is capable of being upgraded to a faster speed, and

 

2. There are no nodes that can be placed on higher speed ports of a desktop

 

switch. Higher speed ports help offset the switch’s latency.

 

Dedicating Bandwidth to Top Talkers

 

Nodes that create a large amount of traffic on a segment are referred to as

 

“top talkers”. Network performance can be improved by dedicating bandwidth

 

to a top talker. A switch allows the top talker to use the full capacity of the

 

network. Other nodes on the network will not have to contend for bandwidth

 

with the top talker, improving their access to applications accessed across the

 

network.

 

If a segment with high utilization has a node that talks equally among all

 

segments, the Network Performance Advisor will recommend that the node

 

be on a dedicated port in a desktop switching environment. If utilization for

 

that segment continues to be high, the Network Performance Advisor will

 

recommend that the segment with that node be upgraded to 100 Mbps or a

 

Gigabit, depending on the segment’s current speed.

 

Top Conversations

 

The Top Conversations section of the report displays a table listing the most

 

active nodes during the time period examined. The table is sorted by utilization

 

percent. This section only appears if you have checked it in the Modify Report

 

Settings page (checked by default). Enter the number of top conversations

 

that you would like to see.

10-15