Networking / Beginners

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Troubleshooting Infrastructure Hardware

If you are looking for a challenge, troubleshooting hardware infrastructure problems is for you. It is often not an easy task and usually involves many processes, including baselining and performance monitoring. One of the keys to identifying the failure of a hardware network device is to know what devices are used on a particular network and what each device is designed to do. Some of the common hardware components used in a network infrastructure are shown in Table below.

Common Network Hardware Components, Their Function and Troubleshooting Strategies

Networking Device	Function	Troubleshooting and Failure Signs
Hubs	Hubs are used with a star network topology and use twisted-pair cable to connect multiple systems to a centralized physical device.	Because hubs connect multiple network devices, if many devices cannot access the network, the hub might have failed. When a hub fails, all devices connected to it will be unavailable to access the network. Additionally, hubs use broadcasts and forward data to all the connected ports increasing network traffic. When network traffic is high and the network operating slowly, it might be necessary to replace slow hubs.
Switches	Like hubs, switches are used with a star topology as a central point of connection.	The inability of several network devices to access the network can indicate a failed switch. If the switch fails, all devices connected to the switch cannot access the network. Switches forward data only to the intended recipient enabling them to better manage network traffic that hubs.
Routers	Routers separate broadcast domains and connect different networks.	If a router fails, network clients cannot access remote networks connected by the router. For example, if clients access a remote office through a network router and the router fails, the remote office would be unavailable. Testing router connectivity can be done using utilities such as ping and tracert.
Bridges	Bridges are commonly used to connect network segments within the same network. Bridges manage the flow of traffic between these network segments.	A failed bridge would prevent the flow of traffic between network segments. If communication between network segments has failed, it can be due to a failed bridge.
Wireless Access Points	Wireless access points provide the bridge between the wired and wireless network.	If wireless clients cannot access the wired network, the AP might have failed. However, there are many configuration settings to verify first.