The importance of network performance optimization is often overemphasized. An efficient, reliable network can eradicate the stress of your daily tasks, enable you to focus on the strategic solutions of your team, and prevent network failure calls. The key is to monitor the network and devise the right network optimization techniques. This ensures that the business continues to operate in a smooth manner while avoiding costly network downtime.
A critical aspect of network performance optimization is inherent optimization. Network optimization does not mean that the network solution will not be able to withstand any form of disaster. At the same time, network optimization means striking a healthy balance between cost and performance. If the network systems are under construction, then your life and the lives of your team will be miserable. Conversely, if you have overbuilt the network systems, you have wasted your money and gone overboard on the finance front.
The moment you choose a network monitoring technique, be aware that your reputation is at stake. The question is, how do you become conscious that you are making the right choice? To ensure optimum network performance optimisation, it is essential that you analyse your network and understand which factors are crucial to enhancing the performance of the network. Then understanding how to optimise the network will turn out to be a simple task.
What is network performance optimization?
Before going ahead, there is a need to understand what is network optimization? In simple terms, it is a reiterative process that enhances the reliability, resilience, and performance of your IT network. Various forms of network optimization techniques, tools, and architectures are leveraged to optimise performance. This is within the bounds that are prescribed by the IT resources of your organisation.
As a network administrator, your role is not to limit downtime but to provide an optimum experience for the end users. Taking the physical infrastructure and the budget a business has allocated for network operations into consideration, you have to find out what network optimization is all about.
The best practices of Network Performance Optimization
After having answered the question, What is network optimization? The main benefit of optimising your network is to prevent costly downtime. There are various methods that can be used for network performance optimization, as depicted below.
- Load balancing: The use of this technique distributes traffic efficiently across a network, preventing congestion and ensuring optimal performance. This also means that no server is overutilized during high traffic periods and complies with the wider server pool.
- Payload compression refers to the size of the data packets, which avoids congestion and improves bandwidth.
- SD-Wan leverage—the software-defined wide area networks could enhance the network’s performance by routing traffic dynamically. SD-WAN leverages a centralised control function to direct network traffic across a wide area network. This prevents the need to back haul any data to a certain location if a company has multiple campuses.
- Improved hardware: to improve performance, a simple upgrade of your network’s performance would suffice. If an old router or switch is causing regular bottlenecks in your network, an upgrade is what is required to restore order.
- QOS optimisation: this allows you to prioritise certain types of packets across your network. This incorporates mission-critical data like video conferencing VVOIP packets over server backups that do not occur in real time. This ensures that the critical data is transferred smoothly and efficiently.
To conclude, there are numerous forms of network optimization techniques available. A precise solution is dependent on the needs of your business. For example, if you are considering a solution that will enable the networking team to monitor their own performance, then software that tracks network performance is a viable option. On the other hand, if you are interested in an expert team optimising your network so that you may focus more on strategic initiatives, then networking as a service is a better option.