Network Troubleshooting by Arash Deljoo

Troubleshooting at its essence is the process of responding to a problem report (sometimes in the form of a trouble ticket), diagnosing the underlying cause of the problem, and resolving the problem. Although you normally think of the troubleshooting process as beginning when a user reports an issue, you need to understand that through effective network monitoring you may detect a situation that could become a troubleshooting issue and resolve that situation before it impacts users.

After an issue is reported, the first step toward resolution is clearly defining the issue. When you have a clearly defined troubleshooting target, you can begin gathering further information related to it. From this information, you should be able to better define the issue. Then based on your diagnosis, you can propose an hypothesis about what is most likely causing the issue. Then the evaluation of these likely causes leads to the identification of the suspected underlying root cause of the issue.

After you identify a suspected underlying cause, you next define approaches to resolving the issue and select what you consider to be the best approach. Sometimes the best approach to resolving an issue cannot be implemented immediately. For example, a piece of equipment might need replacing, or a business’s workflow might be disrupted by implementing such an approach during working hours. In such situations, a troubleshooter might use a temporary fix until a permanent fix can be put in place.