Monitoring Network Traffic

Using Traffic Monitor

Figure 9-1. Traffic Monitor Main PageThe five statistical attributes sampled by Traffic Monitor are:

Utilization%: Represents the traffic on the selected network or segment as a percentage of a segment's bandwidth (based on the theoretical maximum for the type of connection) which is currently being utilized. Monitoring the utilization gives a measure of how much of the network capacity is being used on a particular segment. For example, if you are examining a 10 Mbps or a 100 Mbps segment, utilization can tell you how much of the 10 Mbps or 100 Mbps segment's bandwidth (in percentage such as 20%, 35%, 50%, etc.) is being used by the devices on the segment.

Frames/sec: Represents the number of frames per second being transmitted over the network or segment. Each protocol (such as Ethernet, IP, IPX, etc.) has a different frame or packet specification.

Broadcasts/sec: Represents the number of broadcast packets being transmitted over the network or segment per second. Broadcast packets are addressed to, and must be processed by, all nodes on the network. This indicator gives an estimation of the amount of bulk communications taking place over the network. In general, this type of activity should be kept to a minimum as point-to-point messages use bandwidth much more efficiently.

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