Top10BasicNetworkTroubleshootingToolsEveryIT

ProShouldKnow
BySeanWilkinsonJuly13,2011

Networktroubleshootingtoolsareanecessityforeverynetworkadministrator.Whengettingstarted
inthenetworkingfield,itisimportanttoamassanumberoftoolsthatcanbeusedtotroubleshoota
varietyofdifferentnetworkconditions.
Whileitistruethatthetheuseofspecifictoolscanbesubjectiveandatthediscretionofthe
engineer,theselectionoftoolsinthisarticlehasbeenmadebasedontheirgeneralityandcommon
use.Thisarticlereviewsthetop10basictoolsthatcanhelpyoutroubleshootmostnetworking
issues.

10.Ping
Themostcommonlyusednetworktoolisthepingutility.Thisutilityisusedtoprovideabasic
connectivitytestbetweentherequestinghostandadestinationhost.Thisisdonebyusingthe
InternetControlMessageProtocol(ICMP)whichhastheabilitytosendanechopackettoa
destinationhostandamechanismtolistenforaresponsefromthishost.Simplystated,ifthe
requestinghostreceivesaresponsefromthedestinationhost,thishostisreachable.Thisutilityis
commonlyusedtoprovideabasicpictureofwhereaspecificnetworkingproblemmayexist.For
example,ifanInternetconnectionisdownatanoffice,thepingutilitycanbeusedtofigureout
whethertheproblemexistswithintheofficeorwithinthenetworkoftheInternetprovider.Figure1
belowshowsanexampleofthepingutilitybeingusedtoobtainthereachabilitystatusofthelocally
connectedrouter.

Figure1:Pingutility

9.Tracert/traceroute
Typically,oncethepingutilityhasbeenusedtodeterminebasicconnectivity,thetracert/traceroute
utilitycanusedtodeterminemorespecificinformationaboutthepathtothedestinationhostincluding
theroutethepackettakesandtheresponsetimeoftheseintermediatehosts.Figure2belowshows
anexampleofthetracertutilitybeingusedtofindthepathfromahostinsideanofficeto
www.google.com.Thetracertutilityandtracerouteutilitiesperformthesamefunctionbutoperateon
differentoperatingsystems,TracertforWindowsmachinesandtracerouteforLinux/*nixbased
machines.

Figure2:Tracert/tracerouteutility

8.Ipconfig/ifconfig
Oneofthemostimportantthingsthatmustbecompletedwhentroubleshootinganetworkingissueis
tofindoutthespecificIPconfigurationofthevariouslyaffectedhosts.Sometimesthisinformationis
alreadyknownwhenaddressingisconfiguredstatically,butwhenadynamicaddressingmethodis
used,theIPaddressofeachhostcanpotentiallychangeoften.Theutilitiesthatcanbeusedtofind
outthisIPconfigurationinformationincludetheipconfigutilityonWindowsmachinesandtheifconfig
utilityonLinux/*nixbasedmachines.Figure3belowshowsanexampleoftheifconfigutilityshowing
theIPconfigurationinformationofaquerieshost.

Figure3:Ifconfigutility

7.Nslookup
SomeofthemostcommonnetworkingissuesrevolvearoundissueswithDynamicNameSystem
(DNS)addressresolutionissues.DNSisusedbyeveryoneusingtheInternettoresolvecommonly
knowndomainnames(i.e.google.com)tocommonlyunknownIPaddresses(i.e.74.125.115.147).
Whenthissystemdoesnotwork,mostofthefunctionalitythatpeopleareusedtogoesaway,as
thereisnowaytoresolvethisinformation.ThenslookuputilitycanbeusedtolookupthespecificIP
address(es)associatedwithadomainname.Ifthisutilityisunabletoresolvethisinformation,thereis
aDNSissue.Alongwithsimplelookup,thenslookuputilityisabletoqueryspecificDNSserversto
determineanissuewiththedefaultDNSserversconfiguredonahost.Figure4belowshowsan
exampleofhowthenslookuputilitycanbeusedtoquerytheassociatedIPaddressinformation.

Figure4:Nslookuputility

6.Netstat
Often,oneofthethingsthatarerequiredtobefiguredoutisthecurrentstateoftheactivenetwork
connectionsonahost.Thisisveryimportantinformationtofindforavarietyofreasons.For
example,whenverifyingthestatusofalisteningportonahostortocheckandseewhatremote
hostsareconnectedtoalocalhostonaspecificport.Itisalsopossibletousethenetstatutilityto
determinewhichservicesonahostthatisassociatedwithspecificactiveports.Figure5belowshows
anexampleofthenetstatutilitybeingusedtodisplaythecurrentlyactiveportsonaLinuxmachine.

Figure5:Netstatutility

5.PuTTY/TeraTerm
Whenconnectingtoavarietyofdifferenttypesofequipment,atelnet,SSHorserialclientisrequired
whenthisisrequiredboththepuTTYandTeraTermprogramsareabletoprovidethese
functionalities.Theselectionofoneovertheotherisstrictlyapersonalpreference.Figures6and7
belowshowbothpuTTYandTeraTermbeingusedtoconnecttoahostviaSSH.

Figure6:PuTTY

Figure7:TeraTerm

4.SubnetandIPCalculator
OneofthemostimportanttoolsinthebeltofajuniornetworkengineerisanIPnetworkcalculator.
ThesecanbeusedtounsureacorrectIPaddressselectionandwiththisacorrectIPaddress

configuration.Whilethistypeoftoolisusedbyseniorlevelnetworkengineers,muchofthe
informationobtainedfromthetoolbecomessimplertocalculatethelongerandmoreexperienceyou
haveinthefield.TwoofthemorecommonlyusedfreeIPcalculatorsincludeWildpackets(Bitcricket)
NetworkCalculatorandSolarwindsAdvancedSubnetCalculatorwhichcanbefoundatthelinks
below.
http://www.bitcricket.com/downloads/IPCalculator.msihttp://downloads.solarwinds.com/solarwinds/Rel
ease/FreeTool/SolarWindsSubnetCalculator.zip

Figure8:Subnetcalculator

3.Speedtest.net/pingtest.net
AveryeasytestthatcanbeusedtobothdeterminetheInternetbandwidthavailabletoaspecific
hostandtodeterminethequalityofanInternetconnectionistheuseofthetoolsavailableatthe
speedtest.netandpingtest.netwebsites.Thespeedtest.netsiteprovidestheabilitytodeterminethe
amountofbandwidththatisavailabletoaspecifichostataspecificpointintimethisisoftenagood
tooltousewhenmeasuringhowlongitisgoingtotaketouploadordownloadinformationfroma
localtoremotehost.Thismeasurementcanalsobeusedtodeterminewhethertheconnectionis

offeringtheamountofbandwidththatwaspurchasedfromtheInternetproviderkeepinmind
howeverthatsomeamountofbandwidthdifferenceisexpectedbetweenthequotedbandwidth
purchasedandthemeasuredbandwidth.Thepingtest.netwebsiteisusedtodeterminethequalityof
theconnectionbymeasuringthepingresponsetimesandjitteramountsoverashortperiodoftime.
Thisinformationcanbeusedtodeterminealikelihoodofhowwellthemeasuredconnectionwilldeal
withcertaintypesofhighdemandtrafficlikeVoiceoverIP(VoIP)orgaming.Figure9and10below
showexampleoutputfrombothofthesesites.

Figure9:Speedtest

Figure10:Pingtest

2.Pathping/mtr
Inanefforttotakeadvantageofthebenefitsofboththepingandtracert/traceroutecommands,the
pathpingandmtrutilitiesweredeveloped.Bothofthesetoolstakethefunctionalityandinformation
thatcanbeobtainedfromthesetypesoftoolsandprovideamoredetailedsinglepictureofthepath
characteristicsfromaspecifichosttoaspecificdestination.Figure11and12belowshowexamples
ofthesetwotoolsandwhatinformationtheyprovide.

Figure11:Pathping

Figure12:Mtr

1.Route
Thelastofthetoolscoveredinthisarticleistherouteutility.Thisutilityisusedtodisplaythecurrent
statusoftheroutingtableonahost.Whiletheuseoftherouteutilityislimitedincommonsituations
wherethehostonlyhasasingleIPaddresswithasinglegateway,itisvitalinothersituationswhere
multipleIPaddressandmultiplegatewaysareavailable.Figure13belowshowsanexampleofthe
routeutilitybeingusedonaWindowsmachine.

Figure13:RouteUtility

Summary
Aswithanyjob,thetypeoftoolsthatarequicklyavailablecangreatlyinfluencetheamountoftime

thatittakestocompleteajob.Whentroubleshootinganetworkingissue,theamountoftimethatit
takestofindandfixaproblemdirectlyaffectthewastedcoststhatitcausestoanysystemrelyingon
thenetwork.Thisarticlehastakenalookatthe10mostcommonlyusedtoolsthatcanhelpin
ensuringthatthetimethatittakestofindandfixaproblemisasshortaspossible.Ihopethe
informationinthisarticlecanbehelpfulinfuturetroubleshooting.

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Contributor

SeanWilkins
isanaccomplishednetworkingconsultantforSRWConsulting(http://www.srwconsulting.com)and
writer/editorforinfoDispersion(http://www.idisperse.info).SeanhasbeenintheITfieldforover15
years,workingwithcompanieslikeCisco,Lucent,VerizonandAT&Taswellasseveralotherprivate
companies.SeanholdscertificationswithCisco(CCNP/CCDP),Microsoft(MCSE)andCompTIA(A+
andNetwork+).Hiseducationalaccomplishmentsinclude:aMastersofScienceinInformation
TechnologywithafocusinNetworkArchitectureandDesign,aMastersofScienceinOrganizational
Management,aMastersCertificateinNetworkSecurity,aBachelorsofScienceinComputer
Networking,andanAssociatesofAppliedScienceinComputerInformationSystems.

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