So Why Is Your Network Slow?So Why Is Your Network Slow?

Not only are IP network performance issues not going away, but they'll only get more significant as you put more real-time traffic on those IP networks.

We didn't do a lot of overhauling to the content when we did our No Jitter relaunch this week, but there's one addition we're making that I'm really happy about: Terry Slattery, a principal consultant at Chesapeake NetCraftsmen, has agreed to become a regular contributor to the site. Those of you who know Terry from his current consulting work, or his previous job at Netcordia, know that he's pretty much the smartest guy around when it comes to understanding what makes IP networks behave the way they do, and how that affects the traffic that runs over those networks. Here's a sample of Terry's work on Chesapeake NetCraftsmen's house blog, in which he discusses the specific problem of TCP retransmissions.

Someone once told me that each of the golf magazines runs like a dozen articles a year about how to fix your hook, another dozen about how to fix your slice, etc. What, that problem hasn't been solved yet?

It's the same with running IP networks. The problems don't really get solved, and yet making things better is a job you can't give up on. It's also a job that gets forgotten about—in our last Enterprise Connect Webinar, on the subject of migrating to hosted IP-PBXs, Steve Leaden, president of Leaden Associates consultancy, stressed the need to do a network assessment before you implement major changes to your voice environment, and this view was echoed by Bill Uyeki of XO Communications. Both men acknowledged that, in spite of the fact that we've been talking about the importance of pre-deployment network assessments for literally a decade, too often they don't get done.

Why not? There's not really a single answer, but my theory is that it's a combination of a couple main things: First of all, there are still enterprises that are just now doing their major transition to IP; but more significantly, I think, is that the very length of the transition has allowed for an attenuation of knowledge and expertise; the folks who put in the early and even second-generation IP telephony systems, did so on the other side of the financial collapse of 2008 and the various other economic upheavals of the 2000's. Those folks may not be around any longer, or may be tasked with some very different responsibilities and not involved in the day-to-day planning around real-time IP communications implementation.

So to help with this problem, we'll be doing another Enterprise Connect webinar on October 12 that'll feature Terry Slattery as one of the presenters, together with another really terrific techie guy, Matt Stevens, the CTO of Appneta. Their theme is, "Top 3 Reasons Your Network is Slow and How to Fix It," and you can register for the webinar here.

Not only are IP network performance issues not going away, but they'll only get more significant as you put more real-time traffic on those IP networks, especially video to the desktop. At Enterprise Connect Orlando last March, the most common concern we heard was from network managers sworried that heavy video traffic was going to swamp their network. You need a separate effort to deal with video management and traffic engineering, but you certainly need to know how the network's performing and how to improve that performance. Terry and Matt are the guys to help you understand what you need to do.