Cable testers are used at the Physical layer and are of two types, low spectrum and high spectrum.
Low spectrum cable testers (scanners) provide information about the MAC layer such as the actual amount of network utilization and packet error rates.
High spectrum cable testing involves checking for impedance mismatch, crimps, and various other physical problems in metallic and fiber cables.
Digital interface testing tools cannot test media signals from Ethernet, Token Ring, or FDDI or protocol-related issues on a communication channel.
Protocol analyzers provide details about the network traffic and protocol paths and offer potential solutions to critical network problems without affecting network performance.
A protocol analyzer works in two modes: capture and display.
Examples of protocol analyzers are Sniffer Pro and Ethereal.
Different management tasks include fault detection and configuration, performance, and resource management.
Examples of Cisco IOS commands are debug diagnostic and show process cpu.
SNMP works on the Application layer and allows management of fault detection and network recovery.
The four major components of an SNMP framework are managed devices, management server, management protocol, and management information model.
Cisco WAN Manager (CWM) performs all the major functions of a network management system while CiscoView and Cisco DFM perform partial network monitoring functions.
An EMS manages fault, configuration, accounting, performance, and security within a network.
The Architecture for Voice, Video, and Interface Data (AVVID) network infrastructure provides many network layouts in a common IP environment.
All solutions available with CiscoWorks, an EMS application, are based on the AVVID architecture guidelines.
Applications to optimize and configure WAN links include CiscoWorks Internetworks Performance Monitor (IPM) and CiscoWorks ACL Manager.
Modeling and simulation techniques perform stress testing and network reconfiguration and are used to redesign a network setup.
The Cisco Service Level Management Suite provides the complete “What If” simulation techniques for determining the network performance baselines in different situations.
The NetSys Connectivity Service Manager uses the View, Isolate, Solve, Test, and Apply (VISTA) methodology for diagnosing and troubleshooting network problems.
The NetSys WAN Service Manager provides simulations to analyze the behavior of Cisco devices and their effect on network performance.
A traffic generator utilizes Network Intrusion Detection Systems (NIDS) and Network Verification Services (NVS).
The four types of Cisco IOS commands are show, debug, ping, and trace.
Cisco IOS commands are used to view status information, debug at different levels, and check connectivity and routing status.