How to Measure Network Optimization Strategies

With the rapid increase in software applications, cybersecurity threats, and devices in businesses, strains on IT networks are increasingly growing. For that reason, your IT-dependent business activities may suffer if you don’t measure network optimization strategies, which are part of IT asset discovery.

Network optimization entails techniques you can deploy to enhance the security, speed, and reliability of your IT ecosystem. While improving that ecosystem seems easy in theory, some people find it challenging to handle the multiple processes involved in network optimization. If that sounds like you, professional and legitimate IT companies like CentricsIT can help you make smart decisions regarding IT. That said, here are the top network optimization metrics that give you solid insights for improving your IT infrastructure. 

Network Availability

Network availability is the percentage measure of how often your network hardware and software function properly. It shows the percentage of time your system stays fully operational, usually over a year. To manually calculate network availability, you divide your system uptime by a specific period. The flip side of network availability is downtime, where your systems are not performing as expected. Your goal should be 100% availability and 0% downtime. However, optimal network availability is often expressed as 99.9999999% since most systems experience issues, despite how well maintained they are. Network availability is recorded using real-time monitoring tools, enabling you to flag glitches as they happen. That way, you get to solve network issues fast and provide users with high-quality services. Moreover, network availability tools monitor network resources like devices, WANs, interfaces, SD-WANs, processes, services, websites, and applications. 

Network Utilization

Network utilization is the measure of traffic on your network using powerful tools. It shows whether a network is stable, busy, or idle. Network utilization is represented as a ratio of current network traffic to peak traffic your systems can handle and then turn it into a percentage. A high network utilization doesn’t always translate to efficiency. When it exceeds a certain threshold under normal conditions, it causes low transmission speed and request delays. Since monitoring network utilization helps you understand when a network is busy, idle, or stable, it’s easier to identify inefficiencies and improve network performance. 

Network Latency and Round-Trip Time

Latency and round-trip time deal with your network’s speed. Latency is a measure of the delay in networks during data transmission. It represents the time it takes to transmit data between two locations—like between two devices in a network. Latency is measured in milliseconds (ms). Your network should have low latency for fast communication between devices. On the other hand, a round-trip time is a period of transmitting data from a source to a destination and back. It’s measured in milliseconds (ms). Measuring the round-trip delay is crucial because a TCP/IP network system sends limited data to a destination and waits for confirmation before sending more details. Thus round-trip delays directly impact a network’s performance. Even then, you should aim for the least round-trip delays in your network. 

Network optimization isn’t a one-time thing. Instead, it’s a continuous process, meaning you need to adopt reliable tools that accurately measure network optimization. As a result, you’ll improve network performance and keep your users happy.