Network Maintenance and Troubleshooting Guide: Field-Tested Solutions for Everyday Problems, Second Editon

Appendix G. Troubleshooting with a Protocol Analyzer

Using a protocol analyzer for troubleshooting can be accomplished in three general ways:

• Use the built-in or automated test suites to allow the analyzer to sift and sort the traffic into graphs and charts for you to review. Based on your knowledge of the network and the protocol behaviors, you can identify abnormal trends or activity.

• Use the optional built-in expert system to analyze the capture file, comparing the traffic against libraries of known problem symptoms and reporting any problem matches.

• Use knowledge of the protocol behavior and the application to read through the traffic captured in the trace file and follow the steps required for normal protocol behavior, and noting ...