This is part one of a series of articles that will investigate the value of developing and maintaining

an efficient baseline. Techniques, tools, and criteria will be discussed in upcoming companion
articles.

Network Baselining, Part I: Understanding the Past to Predict the Future

by Brian McKellar, WG Sales
Editors Note: Brian wrote this article while working for WG as a network consultant and
troubleshooter. He recently transferred to a sales position in our Dallas, Texas, office.
At a recent high-tech trade show, I spent a
day visiting various vendors and
investigating the latest in high-speed
communication technologies. The
technology that I saw seemed to be a
mutation of legacy topologies and protocols.
In most cases, demonstrations consisted of
an individual accessing a video from a
server while performing a number of tasks
(e-mail, file transfer, etc.). The pitch focused
on multimedia capabilities. Regardless of
the technology, whether it was 100 Base
LAN, ATM to the desktop, or workgroup or
backbone technology, everyone seemed to
be promoting multimedia.
I left the show with my bag full of goodies,
wondering where all these multimedia
networks are. As a network consultant and
troubleshooter for Wandel & Goltermann, I
consistently find myself working on or
involved with the regular complaints of the
day-to-day network. You know, poor access
times, no access to resources, session drop
outs, etc.? As I worked my way through the
information packages that I had brought
back from the show, I came across a rather
interesting study. The study indicated that
respondents from a cross-section of Fortune
500 businesses reported the following:

approximately 50% of network managers

will move to new high-speed
technologies within 6 months
approximately 40% will make the
transition to high-speed technology
within two years
10% of the respondents thought their
networks were fine as they are

Of even greater interest, 60% of the

respondents attributed the need for
increased bandwidth to an increase in
client/server activity. Only 32% implied that
multimedia applications were causing
problems. Surprisingly, video-conferencing
raised few bandwidth-congestion concerns.
The study went on to provide a very effective
and insightful comparison between a
number of new high-speed technologies and
communication techniques.
I wonder what response the study would
have received to the following basic
questions:

Do you know how many users you have

on your network today?
Where is your greatest network expense
incurred?
What are the peak, operational, and
average utilization levels on your
backbone network?

Which applications tax your network the

most?

In essence, how many network managers

really understand the most fundamental
operation of their networks? Network
managers are expected to plan for the
future. Unfortunately they must live in the
present, which also means they must deal
with the past. Due to the inherited nature of
networks, the networks past is probably one
in which the current network manager was
not involved.
One of the solutions to todays and
tomorrows network concerns is to build an
effective history of the network. By
understanding the past, you will be able to
predict the future, to a certain degree. This
feat can be accomplished by developing a
network baseline.
Baselining, a Definition
Baselining is the actual measurement and
recording of a networks state of operation
over a period of time. It involves recording
the current state of network operation to
serve as a basis for comparison or control.
Why Baseline?
The first question to answer is, What are
the normal operating conditions for my
network? All network managers must
determine the operational guidelines that
their network services and users will deem
acceptable. These operational conditions
can be considered normal for that network. It
has already been established (from the
previously mentioned studies) that network
managers are betting on increased
bandwidth as the solution to network
problems.
The concept of increasing your bandwidth
raises a number of questions:

Am I increasing bandwidth so garbage

on my network moves faster?
Am I judging how much bandwidth I
need by the number of trouble calls I
receive?
Have I evaluated my network and
determined that the only solution is
an increase in bandwidth?
After I have increased my bandwidth
with new technology X,Y, or Z, how do I
know if I have improved the network? I
have nothing to compare it to. No
baseline model!

An understanding of the normal operating

conditions of the network will be a valuable
asset in a troubleshooting scenario. Further,
a well-defined and properly implemented
baseline will help the network manager
predict the operation of the network. If you
establish a reliable baseline, the networks
ability to support new applications and new
users will not be a matter of guess work.
When Do We Baseline?
Begin immediately. Ensure that there are no
raging network fires and get started. You do
not want to perform a baseline while
troubleshooting a problem. In a perfect
world, you would baseline each
segment/ring for an extended period of time,
say one full week. A baseline schedule
would then be determined by analyzing the
results of the long-term baseline. From the
initial long-term baseline, select and focus
on trouble spots. A trouble spot might
consist of excessively high utilization or
perhaps high levels of error conditions. You
will have to determine what is normal,
acceptable, and unacceptable for your
network. Considering time and resources,
you may be unable to baseline every
segment. In this case, you should select
your critical or problematic networks for
baselining.

Comprehensive baselining will enable a

network manager to proactively maintain the
network. A properly implemented baseline
schedule will provide valuable insight to
trends or changes in the networks daily
operation. This insight may allow the network
manager to predict network operation under
a given load, or anticipate problems created
by new services.
What Do We Baseline?
One of the first things to establish is what
will be baselined. Some important network
characteristics are:

utilization levels

number of users
number of operational protocols
error statistics
application utilization

Each network should be evaluated

individually. The baseline will then be
developed around the relevant criteria for
that network. Table 1 provides an overview
of some characteristics that are considered
relevant criteria for a network baseline. Once
you establish the baseline criteria, a
standard format should be developed to
allow you to easily record the baseline data.
Most PCs come equipped with data base
tools that enable the user to develop a
network-specific baseline table.

Ethernet Baseline Statistics

Network Based
% Utilization - Peak
% Utilization - Average
Frames / Second - Peak
Frames / Second - Average
Frame size - Peak
Frame size - Average
Total Frame Count
Total Byte Count
Node count - Total
Top 10 Nodes
Protocol count - Total
Protocol count - Top 3

Network Errors

Node Based
% Utilization - Peak
% Utilization - Average
Frames / Second - Peak
Frames / Second - Average
Frame size - Peak
Frame size - Average
Total Frame Count
Total Byte Count
Node/Node Interaction - Total
Node/Node Int. - Predominant
Protocol count - Total
Protocol count - Top 3

Station Errors

Collisions - Total
Collisions - Total
Collisions / Second
Collisions / Second
Runts/Fragments - Total
Runts/Fragments - Total
J abbers - Total
J abbers - Total
# of CRC/FCS Errors - Total
# of CRC/FCS Errors - Total
Table 1. Typical Characteristics to be included in a baseline study

The next step is to establish a central data

base. This is where all network baseline and
troubleshooting reports will be kept. This

information will serve as a valuable

reference for the network. The more
information that is developed and maintained

on each user, segment, peripheral, switch,

bridge and router, the easier the task of
network maintenance becomes.
At this point, the baseline begins. Inventory
is the first thing on the list. Establish a
comprehensive list of hardware components.
One of the rudimentary steps in an inventory
should be to record the total number of
components in the network. Wherever
possible, you should access configuration
files, print them out, and attach them to a
form that includes the local vendors name
and telephone number as well as any
Technical Assistance Center (TAC) numbers
that may be available. While you are at it,
add serial numbers, part numbers, and
version information. This information should
be readily available. TAC personnel are likely
to require this information when you call.
The first major step is now taken in
establishing an effective baseline. Once you
have begun baselining, you must stay the
course. Undertaking a program of baselining
will be of no benefit if baselining is
performed only after network modifications
or problems. Remember, you are developing
a history of the network. This history will
prove an effective tool if it is developed
properly. In a supplement to this article,
network-specific components will be
evaluated in detail.

Wandel & Goltermann, Inc.

June 1996; subject to change