Module 3 - Build a Prototype or Pilot for the Network Structure

Section 2 - Test the Prototype or Pilot

Section Objectives

• List the Cisco IOS software commands you should use to determine if a network structure meets the customer's performance and scalability goals.

• Describe how to demonstrate the prototype or pilot to the customer so that the customer understands that the proposed design meets requirements for performance, security, capacity, and scalability, and that the costs and risks are acceptable.

Time Required to Complete This Section

Completing This Section

1. Study the reading assignment.
2. Click on any links that you see in the reading assignment and review the information that appears.
3. Review any tables and job aids that appear in the reading assignment.
4. Review the case studies at the end of this section.
5. Complete the questions in each case study.
6. Review the answers provided by our internetworking experts.

Resources Required to Complete This Section

• Access to the World Wide Web and Cisco's Web site
• A downloaded, printed copy of this section
• Paper and pencil

Reading Assignment

Testing the Prototype or Pilot

• Cisco Connection Documentation

• Netsys Connectivity Tools User Guide
• Netsys Connectivity Tools Reference Manual

Using Protocol Analyzers

Configuring for Correct Media

To test with a protocol analyzer, make sure you have an analyzer that can attach to the media you are testing, whether it is a WAN link, 10-Mbps or 100-Mbps Ethernet, Token Ring, ATM, and so on. If necessary, configure the analyzer for the media. For example, you might need to tell it whether a Token Ring network is 4 Mbps or 16 Mbps. For WAN analyzers, you often need to specify the data link layer, whether it is HDLC, Frame Relay, a proprietary format, and so on.

Capturing Data

Assuming that the prototype network is installed and users are running the appropriate applications, use the protocol analyzer to:
 
• Capture data for at least a day.
• Identify errors and irregularities.
• Check the network utilization.
• Determine what percentage of the traffic is broadcasts or multicasts.

 
To verify that there are no problems, use the Network Health Checklist provided later in this section.

Testing the Prototype

You can also use a protocol analyzer to generate traffic when testing a prototype. If it is impractical to purchase, install, and configure all the devices required to do a true simulation, you can purchase a subset of them and generate traffic to cause the load that would be present if all the devices were installed. This simulation will give you an approximation of the performance, though not an exact view of the actual performance that you should expect.

Demonstrating Security

If the customer has security concerns and your prototype implements access lists, use a protocol analyzer to demonstrate that traffic filtering is working correctly. For example, if network A should not be able to reach network B, run some network applications on hosts in network A while a protocol analyzer is attached to network B. Prove to yourself and your customer that no traffic from network A reaches network B.

Using Cisco IOS Software to Test a Prototype

• The show interface command identifies Layer 2 errors, router errors such as dropped or ignored packets, and broadcast rates.

• The show processes command identifies router CPU usage, including CPU time used by processes.

• The show buffers command checks buffer usage and buffer misses.

• The ping and trace commands help troubleshoot connectivity and performance problems.

• The show [protocol] route command helps troubleshoot routing problems.

• The show access-lists command displays the contents of access lists to help troubleshoot security problems.

• Various debug commands can be used for troubleshooting and verifying packets sent and received.

Demonstrating Your Findings to the Customer

• Publish your findings in a concise but comprehensive report.

• Add the results of your tests to the network design document or response to an RFP that we discussed in Section 8 of Module 2, "Write a Design Document."

• Make PowerPoint slides that graphically demonstrate the correlation between your test results and the customer's requirements.

• Meet with the customer and present your findings.

• Meet with the customer and reproduce the test results as the customer watches.

Network Health Checklist

Case Studies

Read each case study and complete the questions that follow. Keep in mind that there are potentially several correct answers to each question.

When you complete each question, you can refer to the solutions provided by our internetworking experts. The case studies and solutions will help prepare you for the Sylvan exam following the course.

In this section, you will review the following case studies:

1. CareTaker Publications, a publishing company
2. PH Network Services Corporation, a health care company
3. Pretty Paper Ltd., a European wall covering company
4. Jones, Jones, & Jones, an international law firm

Case Study: CareTaker Publications

Recall the solution developed in the last section:

• Because the network will be installed in a new building, we proposed that the new communication lines be installed between the three locations in parallel with the existing lines.

 
• One of the new servers would be used as a test server. The server would be placed on a 100-Mbps port of the switch.

 
• A minimum of one PC would be attached to each LAN segment in the new building. This attachment should be done in the computer room at the Catalyst 5000 switch to eliminate cable issues that are not the responsibility of the internetwork design. A single PC at the warehouse would be connected to the Cisco 2503 router. All circuits and paths would then be tested.

Case Study: PH Network Services

To review the PH Network Services Corporation case study, click here.

Recall the solution developed in the last section:

• The critical path on the implementation of the PH Network system will be obtaining circuits from the local provider.

 
• The Frame Relay circuits should be ordered as soon as possible.

 
• A structured plan should be established for doctor offices to place orders for ISDN lines as a coordinated order for the entire network.

 
• One hospital, one doctor office with an existing LAN, and one single-PC doctor office should be selected as a Phase I Group. The communication lines for these offices and the PH Network office should be installed first.

 
• The Catalyst 1900 switch and Cisco 3620 router should be installed in the PH Network office. Access to the Windows NT server by local PCs should be verified.

 
• The pilot network of one hospital, one LAN-based doctor office, and one standalone-based office should then be connected and completely tested by ping tests and user logins.

 
• The new SQL Server could then be added and the connection tested for the pilot network. Once these tests have proven the operational status of the network, the other hospitals should be added, followed by doctor offices, with an orderly, planned methodology.

Case Study: Pretty Paper Ltd.

To review the Pretty Paper case study, click here.

Recall the solution developed in the last section:

• The software vendor probably has been asked to provide this kind of proof in the past. Ask if this vendor has a lab or test-bed facility that could be used to simulate the environment if the routers and switch were provided. The lab or test-bed facility would provide the most controllable environment.

• If a test-bed is not available, all packet flow and performance requirements can be evaluated by implementing a subset of the new network consisting of a group of users in the main office and a remote manufacturing facility.

 
• The pilot would consist of the installation of the Catalyst 5000 switch, Cisco 2503 routers at headquarters and at a selected manufacturing facility, the HP9000, two Frame Relay circuits, and the necessary subset of cabling.

 
• Demonstrate that the solution enhances and does not degrade the flow of packets from the warehouse to the main office. This demonstration would be accomplished most definitively through the use of network monitoring device for both the Frame Relay and the existing X.25 networks. At the application level, this is not an apples-to-apples comparison. At the packet transport level, it will be a comparison of the new network's ability to deliver what it was asked to deliver.

Case Study: Jones, Jones, & Jones

To review the Jones, Jones, & Jones case study, click here.

The firm decided to implement one U.S. office and the Europe office as a prototype network. The main pilot office was located in the United States. Both offices were fully cabled for the final design and the facilities in both appropriately prepared.
 
     1. What criteria will you use to validate that the pilot is a success?

CCDA Sample Sylvan Exam

We have provided a 32-question exam to simulate the Sylvan exam you will be required to take to become CCDA certified. When you think you are ready to try the sample CCDA exam, click here.