Author: Neftaly Malatjie

The problem-solving cycle is one of the widely used model to resolve problems. The problem-solving cycle is an iterative approach that involves brainstorming, constructing matrices, analyzing and testing until the optimal solution is reached. It is important that all steps be done in order.

These can be caused by;

• Dead drop: A PC, phone, access point or printer is connected to the wall jack and the connection is not activated. The switch port does not show a link light, nor does the network adapter.
• User activity: Any user interface activity may disrupt the system in a way that impacts network performance.  For example, viewing a web page will substantially reduce hard drive, CPU, memory, and network performance. Windows in particular gives higher priority to user actions than to other processes.  For example, clicking the desktop just once per second during a Windows 2012 RDP session can cause a 25% drop in network throughput.  The Windows Activity Monitor can cause up to a 50% drop in network throughput.

Server hangs or freezes can occur for a number of reasons;

• System Overload: Server hang-ups due to system overload typically show up as slowly loading pages. The system may respond slowly for a period and then return to normal operation. Server slowdowns typically happen at peak traffic periods, when scheduled tasks (cron jobs) run, or when certain maintenance occurs. Keeping track of the server freezes can help pinpoint what maybe happening.
• Configuration Errors: a hung server that is offline can be due to mis-configuration.
• Hardware Issues: hardware issues can result in hangs and freezes.
• Server backup: in many cases, I’ve seen backups cause servers to hang. For example, rsync, used on cPanel and many custom scripts, consumes a significant amount ofCPU resources which can slow your server and even cause it to freeze up.

There a range of problems that can affect a local area computer network. We shall look at them below;

Network problems

Transferring data from one computer to another involves passing that data through dozens, sometimes hundreds, of software and hardware components. Performance may be limited within a computer or within the network.  Sometimes components which are functioning normally by themselves may interact in unexpected ways to create unexpected problems. The following are causes of network problems;

1. Cable Problem:Cables that connect different parts of a network can be cut or shorted. A short can happen when the wire conductor comes in contact with another conductive surface, changing the path of the signal. Cable testers can be used to test for many types of cable problems such as: Cut cable, incorrect cable connections, Cable shorts, Interference level, Connector Problem.
2. Connectivity Problem:A connectivity problem with one or more devices in a network can occur after a change is made in configuration or by a malfunction of a connectivity component, such as hub, a router or a Switch.
3. Excessive Network Collisions:These often lead to slow connectivity. The problem can occur as a result of bad network setup/plan, a user transferring a lot of information or jabbering network card.

NB: A jabbering Network card is a network card that is stuck in a transmit mode. This will be evident because the transmit light will remain on constantly, indicating that the Network card is always transmitting.

4. Software Problem:Network problems can often be traced to software configuration such as DNS configuration, WINS configuration, the registry etc.
5. Duplicate IP Addressing:A common problem in many networking environments occurs when two machines try to use the same IP address. This can result in intermittent communications.

On completion of this section you will be able to resolve user, fileserver and performance problems with a local area computer network.