As an SMB (small and medium-sized business), you know how important it is to keep your network running smoothly. After all, if the network goes down, so does your business. But with limited resources and a tight budget, maintaining peak performance can take time and effort.
Thankfully, there are some simple yet effective tips that any SMB can use to improve their network performance management, including monitoring network traffic, improving software and hardware like investing in rackmount servers, optimising network configuration and much more. There’s a lot you can do.
In this article, we’ll explore five tips that every small-to-medium-sized business should know about to ensure efficient networking operations.
➤ Monitor Network Traffic
Network Performance Management (NPM) provides insights that help business owners accurately assess their network’s current state so they can make informed decisions about managing it best from now on. Utilising such tools can measure latency, throughput, packet loss, jitter and other metrics essential to ensuring optimal network performance.
By keeping track of these factors over time using NPM, SMB owners will better understand which areas need improvement when managing their network’s performance. With this knowledge, they can take proactive steps to improve their overall networking experience for years.
➤ Utilise Quality Of Service (QOS)
Quality of Service (QOS) is an important component to consider when managing your network’s performance. QOS allows you to allocate bandwidth and prioritise traffic types, ensuring that critical data or applications don’t suffer from congestion caused by other activities on the same network.
Here are three steps to help you get started with utilising QOS:
- Identify which types of traffic should be given priority.
- Assign a specific amount of bandwidth for each type of traffic.
- Monitor the implementation and adjust as needed to ensure optimal performance.
Understanding how to leverage QOS can help you optimise your network configuration for maximum efficiency. Depending on your needs, this could include setting priorities within certain departments or applications, throttling down non-essential processes during peak hours, or reserving resources for real-time services such as streaming video and VoIP calls.
By taking active control over your network usage in these ways, you can keep users productive without sacrificing the quality of service.
➤ Optimise Network Configuration
Optimising network configuration is key to improving performance. Start by ensuring that the equipment, including routers, switches and other physical components, are properly configured for optimal transmission speeds.
You’ll want to ensure that each device has the correct firmware version installed. Additionally, you’ll need to look at virtual networks set up within a host-machine environment and ensure they’re optimised. This will help reduce latency and minimise errors in transmissions.
Making sure your network is secure should also be top of mind regarding performance management tips. Implementing security protocols can protect against malicious threats while also helping improve efficiency speed-wise since less traffic needs to be processed due to fewer attacks on the system.
➤ Regularly Update Hardware And Software
It’s important to maintain a healthy and secure network environment proactively. This means regularly updating hardware and software with the latest available patches so SMBs can access the latest features and security fixes. They should be scheduled as part of regular maintenance cycles to ensure updates are kept up-to-date. Additionally, any new devices or applications added to the network must be updated accordingly.
By taking these proactive measures, SMBs can help protect their networks from vulnerabilities caused by outdated systems and equipment, which could lead to serious data breaches if left unaddressed.
Keeping everything up-to-date is key for avoiding cyber criminals who are always looking for ways to gain access to valuable customer data. With vigilant monitoring and regular upgrades, businesses can significantly reduce their risk of falling victim to malicious attacks.
➤ Utilise Network Performance Management Tools
Network performance management tools can help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) maintain quality network connections. Various free and paid tools, such as open-source software, web-based applications, cloud solutions, and more, are available.
These tools offer features like monitoring bandwidth usage, identifying bottlenecks in the network, tracking system or application performance metrics, and providing real-time alerts when issues arise.
These tools are essential for SMBs to ensure their networks remain stable and secure. They allow IT teams to quickly identify problems before they become major issues, saving time and money.
Network performance management tools also provide valuable insight into how users interact with a company’s systems so administrators can make informed decisions about future updates or changes.
In Summary
In conclusion, managing your network performance is crucial for small and medium businesses. By monitoring traffic, utilising QOS, optimising configurations, updating hardware/software and using a network management tool, SMBs can enjoy the best possible performance from their networks.
Don’t let poor network performance drag down your company; take action today with these five essential network performance management tips.