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Basic network monitoring tools

Basic network, monitoring tools and troubleshooting on Windows.

For those who have just embark on the field of Information Technology and even for those who are eager to learn on how to troubleshoot or do some network basic monitoring, Windows  has a lot of built in command to do this basic tasks.

In a small office or even in a large environment, there will always come a time that you will be disconnected to the internet  or even at your own home.

Basic or let's say common problem is unable to print, unable to connect to network share, unable to connect to "Facebook", or unable to connect to Google to find some programming code. Basically cannot connect to any websites on the internet and other things that user should do at home but love to do it at work.

Before we discuss on how to use those basic tools, let's define and discuss about two important and basic configuration on a local computer or workstation.

In every computer or workstation that is connected to the internet, be it at the office or at home, will always have a DNS and DHCP.

And if you always hear from your tech savvy friend or colleague, we have a problem because a Dynamic IP was not configured properly, or the static IP that was set was an incorrect IP address.

So let's discuss what is Static IP address (Static Internet Protocol) and a Dynamic IP (Dynamic Internet Protocol) address.

A static IP, from the word itself "Static" means fixed or constant. So an Static IP is a fixed IP or a constant IP Address.  And an Static IP is something that is configured manually.  (But a static IP can be configured automatically also by using script or other methods)

A Dynamic IP, is the opposite of Static IP. It is not set manually but is configured automatically by a software or a hardware.

DHCP which stands for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, this can be a hardware or software which job is to hand out Dynamic IP address on a network. This will auto configure a laptop or a desktop to a default DHCP configuration set by the network or system administrator.

DHCP uses port 67 and 68.

So incorrect DHCP settings can cause a lot of problem on any network.

DNS  which stands for Domain Name System and uses port 53. DNS job is like a translator which is indeed a translator it will translate human readable text to an IP Address.

Basically, when you enter www.nba.com, DNS translate the word nba.com to an IP Address that is configured or set to that particular URL.

So it makes life easier, instead of remembering the numbers we just remember the word or the name.

So incorrect DNS settings can cause a lot of trouble as well on a network.

DNS and DHCP must be configured properly for a computer to function properly on the network.
Below is the basic tools or commands that is already equipped on a computer that runs Windows operating system.

          1. Ipconfig
          2. Ping
          3. Netstat
          4. Tracert
          5. Route

There are other tools that is quite useful but let's just discuss those commands listed above.

IPCONFIG - IPConfig command is a basic tool to troubleshoot a computer that is not able to connect to the internet, unable to browse a website, and other issues.

To use IPCONFIG you need to open command prompt.

At the command prompt you can type, IPConfig /?

Typing “IPConfig /?” will list all its parameters.

One of the most common parameters is /all.

Try typing ipconfig /all, will list the IP Address, Gateway, DNS Address and other details.

The “Ping” command, is most commonly used by IT or Helpdesk personnel’s.

Go  to the command prompt and type ping www.google.com or any site you want or any IP Address on your network.

If everything goes well, then you will see something like this:

Reply from IP.Address: bytes=32 time=18ms TTL=52

Which basically means that the other side in which you  ping is up and running.

And also means that your computer can also communicate to the internet.

If the ping is not successful, then you will see something like this:

Request timed out.

Which basically means, if your network is up and running. And you just ping the other side, it means that the other party is down and not connected to the internet.

The other tools listed above like Netstat, Tracert and route, you will be able to get its parameters by going to the command prompt and typing the command name and appending /? at the end of the command.

To explorer further on advance tool, "nmap" a free security scanner tools is quite good on discovering services, IP Addresses, open ports within the local network.  Don't use this tool on a production environment unless you have the permission to do so.

PowerShell has also buit-in cmdlets that are quite good as well, search the web with  this keyword "PowerShell networking cheat sheet" and there will be tons of information but be careful though in clicking links, you might stumble on  a phishing or malicious site.

Good luck and enjoy your networking journey.

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