Skip to content Skip to navigation

Connexions

You are here: Home » Content » What is Network Performance?

Navigation

Content Actions
  • Download module PDF
  • Add to ...
    Add the module to:
    • My Favorites
    • A lens
    • An external social bookmarking service
    • My Favorites (What is 'My Favorites'?)
      'My Favorites' is a special kind of lens which you can use to bookmark modules and collections directly in Connexions. 'My Favorites' can only be seen by you, and collections saved in 'My Favorites' can remember the last module you were on. You need a Connexions account to use 'My Favorites'.
    • A lens (What is a lens?)

      Definition of a lens

      Lenses

      A lens is a custom view of Connexions content. You can think of it as a fancy kind of list that will let you see Connexions through the eyes of organizations and people you trust.

      What is in a lens?

      Lens makers point to Connexions materials (modules and collections), creating a guide that includes their own comments and descriptive tags about the content.

      Who can create a lens?

      Any individual Connexions member, a community, or a respected organization.

    • External bookmarks
  • E-mail the author

Recently Viewed

This feature requires Javascript to be enabled.

What is Network Performance?

Module by: Mookho Tsilo

Network performance refers to the level of quality of service of a telecommunications product [1] as seen by the customer. It should not be seen merely as an attempt to get "more through" the network. It can be improved by:

  • Ensuring that the network components are working efficiently and in harmony to deliver the prescribed grade of service.
  • Ensuring that the network resources are operating in an error-free manner.
  • Maintaining the quality of service in a cost-effective manner.

Monitoring the performance of a network can help to track the growth of demand and identify impending resources shortages for effective management purposes. The following list gives examples of Network Performance measures for a circuit-switched network and one type of packet-switched network, viz. ATM:

  • Circuit-switched networks: In circuit switched networks, network performance is synonymous with the grade of service. The number of rejected calls is a measure of how well the network is performing under heavy traffic loads [1]. Other types of performance measures can include noise, echo and so on.
  • ATM: In an Asynchronous Transfer Mode ATM network, performance can be measured by line rate, QoS, data throughput, connect time, stability, technology, modulation technique and modem enhancements [2].

There are many different ways to measure the performance of a network, as each network is different in nature and design. Performance can also be modelled instead of measured; one example of this is using state transition diagrams to model queuing performance in a circuit-switched network. These diagrams allow the network planner to analyze how the network will perform in each state, ensuring that the network will be optimally designed [3].

Exercise 1

What parameters can be used to measure the performance of a network?

References:

  1. ITU-T Study Group 2, Teletraffic Engineering Handbook http://www.com.dtu.dk/teletraffic/handbook/telenook.pdf, Last accessed 13 February 2005.
  2. Telecommunications Magazine Online, Americas January 2003, Issue Highlights, Online Exclusive: Broadband Access Maximum Performance, http://www.telecommagazine.com, Last accessed 13 February 2005.
  3. State Transition Diagrams, http://cne.gmu.edu/modules/os_perf/std.t.html, Last accessed 13 July 2003.
  4. Aidarous A. and Plevyak Telecommunications Network Management into the 21st Century, IEEE Press.

Retrieved and edited from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_performance" ______________________________________________________________

Comments, questions, feedback, criticisms?

Send feedback