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Chapter 40

Monitoring Network Performance (Tasks)

This chapter describes the how to monitor network performance. The following is a list of the step-by-step instructions in this chapter.

Monitoring Network Performance

Table 40-1 describes the commands that are available for monitoring network performance.

Table 40-1 Network Monitoring Commands

Command

Description

ping

Look at the response of hosts on the network.

spray

Test the reliability of your packet sizes. This command can tell you whether the network is delaying packets or dropping packets.

snoop

Capture packets from the network and trace the calls from each client to each server.

netstat

Display network status, including state of the interfaces that are used for TCP/IP traffic, the IP routing table, and the per-protocol statistics for UDP, TCP, ICMP, and IGMP.

nfsstat

Display a summary of server and client statistics that can be used to identify NFS problems.

How to Check the Response of Hosts on the Network

Check the response of hosts on the network with the ping command.

$ ping hostname

If you suspect a physical problem, you can use ping to find the response time of several hosts on the network. If the response from one host is not what you would expect, you can investigate that host. Physical problems could be caused by the following:

  • Loose cables or connectors

  • Improper grounding

  • No termination

  • Signal reflection

For more information about this command, see ping(1M).

Examples--Checking the Response of Hosts on the Network

The simplest version of ping sends a single packet to a host on the network. If ping receives the correct response, the command prints the message host is alive.

$ ping elvis
elvis is alive

With the -s option, ping sends one datagram per second to a host. The command then prints each response and the time that was required for the round trip. An example follows.

$ ping -s pluto
64 bytes from pluto (123.456.78.90): icmp_seq=0. time=10. ms
64 bytes from pluto (123.456.78.90): icmp_seq=5. time=0. ms
64 bytes from pluto (123.456.78.90): icmp_seq=6. time=0. ms
^C
----pluto PING Statistics----
8 packets transmitted, 8 packets received, 0% packet loss
 
round-trip (ms) min/avg/max = 0/2/10

How to Send Packets to Hosts on the Network

Test the reliability of your packet sizes with the spray command.

$ spray [ -c count -d interval -l packet_size] hostname

-i count

Number of packets to send.

-d interval

Number of microseconds to pause between sending packets. If you do not use a delay, you might deplete the buffers.

-l packet_size

Is the packet size.

hostname

Is the system to send packets.

For more information about this command, see spray(1M).

Example--Sending Packets to Hosts on the Network

The following example sends 100 packets to a host (-c 100), with a packet size of 2048 bytes (-l 2048). The packets are sent with a delay time of 20 microseconds between each burst (-d 20).

$ spray -c 100 -d 20 -l 2048 pluto
sending 100 packets of length 2048 to pluto ...
no packets dropped by pluto
279 packets/sec, 573043 bytes/sec

How to Capture Packets From the Network

To capture packets from the network and trace the calls from each client to each server, use snoop. This command provides accurate timestamps that enable some network performance problems to be isolated quickly. For more information, see snoop(1M).

# snoop

Dropped packets could be caused by insufficient buffer space or an overloaded CPU.

How to Check the Network Status

To display network status information, such as statistics about the state of network interfaces, routing tables, and various protocols, use the netstat command.

$ netstat [-i] [-r] [-s]

-i

Displays the state of the TCP/IP interfaces

-r

Displays the IP routing table

-s

Displays statistics for the UDP, TCP, ICMP, and IGMP protocols

For more information, see netstat(1M).

Examples--Checking the Network Status

The following example shows output from the netstat -i command, which displays the state of the interfaces that are used for TCP/IP traffic.

$ netstat -i
Name  Mtu  Net/Dest    Address      Ipkts  Ierrs Opkts  Oerrs Collis Queue
lo0   8232 software    localhost     1280   0     1280     0       0    0
le0   1500 loopback    venus      1628480   0   347070    16   39354    0

This display shows the number of packets that a machine has transmitted and has received on each interface. A machine with active network traffic should show both Ipkts and Opkts continually increasing.

Calculate the network collisions rate by dividing the number of collision counts (Collis) by the number of out packets (Opkts). In the previous example, the collision rate is 11 percent. A network-wide collision rate that is greater than 5 to 10 percent can indicate a problem.

Calculate the error rate for the input packets by dividing the number of input errors by the total number of input packets (Ierrs/Ipkts). The error rate for the output packets is the number of output errors divided by the total number of output packets (Oerrs/Opkts). If the input error rate is high, at over 0.25 percent, the host might be dropping packets.

The following example shows output from the netstat -s command, which displays the per-protocol statistics for the UDP, TCP, ICMP, and IGMP protocols.

UDP
    udpInDatagrams      =196543    udpInErrors         =     0
    udpOutDatagrams     =187820
 
TCP
    tcpRtoAlgorithm     =     4    tcpRtoMin           =   200
    tcpRtoMax           = 60000    tcpMaxConn          =    -1
    tcpActiveOpens      = 26952    tcpPassiveOpens     =   420
    tcpAttemptFails     =  1133    tcpEstabResets      =     9
    tcpCurrEstab        =    31    tcpOutSegs          =3957636
    tcpOutDataSegs      =2731494   tcpOutDataBytes     =1865269594
    tcpRetransSegs      = 36186    tcpRetransBytes     =3762520
    tcpOutAck           =1225849   tcpOutAckDelayed    =165044
    tcpOutUrg           =     7    tcpOutWinUpdate     =   315
    tcpOutWinProbe      =     0    tcpOutControl       = 56588
    tcpOutRsts          =   803    tcpOutFastRetrans   =   741
    tcpInSegs           =4587678
    tcpInAckSegs        =2087448   tcpInAckBytes       =1865292802
    tcpInDupAck         =109461    tcpInAckUnsent      =     0
    tcpInInorderSegs    =3877639   tcpInInorderBytes   =-598404107
    tcpInUnorderSegs    = 14756    tcpInUnorderBytes   =17985602
    tcpInDupSegs        =    34    tcpInDupBytes       = 32759
    tcpInPartDupSegs    =   212    tcpInPartDupBytes   =134800
    tcpInPastWinSegs    =     0    tcpInPastWinBytes   =     0
    tcpInWinProbe       =   456    tcpInWinUpdate      =     0
    tcpInClosed         =    99    tcpRttNoUpdate      =  6862
    tcpRttUpdate        =435097    tcpTimRetrans       = 15065
    tcpTimRetransDrop   =    67    tcpTimKeepalive     =   763
    tcpTimKeepaliveProbe=     1    tcpTimKeepaliveDrop =     0

IP
    ipForwarding        =     2    ipDefaultTTL        =   255
    ipInReceives        =11757234  ipInHdrErrors       =     0
    ipInAddrErrors      =     0    ipInCksumErrs       =     0
    ipForwDatagrams     =     0    ipForwProhibits     =     0
    ipInUnknownProtos   =     0    ipInDiscards        =     0
    ipInDelivers        =4784901   ipOutRequests       =4195180
    ipOutDiscards       =     0    ipOutNoRoutes       =     0
    ipReasmTimeout      =    60    ipReasmReqds        =  8723
    ipReasmOKs          =  7565    ipReasmFails        =  1158
    ipReasmDuplicates   =     7    ipReasmPartDups     =     0
    ipFragOKs           = 19938    ipFragFails         =     0
    ipFragCreates       =116953    ipRoutingDiscards   =     0
    tcpInErrs           =     0    udpNoPorts          =6426577
    udpInCksumErrs      =     0    udpInOverflows      =   473
    rawipInOverflows    =     0

ICMP
    icmpInMsgs          =490338    icmpInErrors        =     0
    icmpInCksumErrs     =     0    icmpInUnknowns      =     0
    icmpInDestUnreachs  =   618    icmpInTimeExcds     =   314
    icmpInParmProbs     =     0    icmpInSrcQuenchs    =     0
    icmpInRedirects     =   313    icmpInBadRedirects  =     5
    icmpInEchos         =   477    icmpInEchoReps      =    20
    icmpInTimestamps    =     0    icmpInTimestampReps =     0
    icmpInAddrMasks     =     0    icmpInAddrMaskReps  =     0
    icmpInFragNeeded    =     0    icmpOutMsgs         =   827
    icmpOutDrops        =   103    icmpOutErrors       =     0
    icmpOutDestUnreachs =    94    icmpOutTimeExcds    =   256
    icmpOutParmProbs    =     0    icmpOutSrcQuenchs   =     0
    icmpOutRedirects    =     0    icmpOutEchos        =     0
    icmpOutEchoReps     =   477    icmpOutTimestamps   =     0
    icmpOutTimestampReps=     0    icmpOutAddrMasks    =     0
    icmpOutAddrMaskReps =     0    icmpOutFragNeeded   =     0
    icmpInOverflows     =     0

IGMP:
        0 messages received
        0 messages received with too few bytes
        0 messages received with bad checksum
        0 membership queries received
        0 membership queries received with invalid field(s)
        0 membership reports received
        0 membership reports received with invalid field(s)
        0 membership reports received for groups to which we belong
        0 membership reports sent

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