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Network optimization means to improve network performance by following a set of best practices. A variety of tools and techniques can be used to monitor and improve network performance such as: global load balancing, packet loss monitoring, minimize latency and bandwidth management.

Why Is Network Optimization Important?

Network optimization works to enhance the speed, security and reliability of your company’s IT ecosystem.

Due to the following factors the networks are strained:

• Increase in the number of devices being brought into the workplace.
• Cybersecurity threats are evolving daily.
• Use of software applications has increased.
• Data collection, aggregation and sharing has increased — often simultaneously.
• Teams working remotely.
• Access to your networks provided to external entity.

The result? Your in-office and remote employees, as well as your customers and clients, are unable to use relevant software, share documents, send messages and emails, access data, browse your domain, make purchases or read your company blog from any digital device.

In short, network optimization is essential for business activities that require 24/7 access and real-time usage of digital technology.

How to Measure Network Optimization Strategies

1. Traffic Usage

Traffic usage provides with the information of which networks are the busiest and which are idle.

2. Latency

Latency is the amount of time it takes for packets to travel from one location to another. This should be close to zero always.

3. Availability vs. Downtime

A network’s availability metrics reveal how often particular hardware or software functions as it should.

4. Network Jitter

Information is transported from your computer in data packets across the internet. They are usually sent at regular intervals and take a set amount of time. Jitter is when there is a time delay in the sending of these data packets over your network connection. This is often caused by network congestion, and sometimes route changes.

5. Packet Loss

The Benefits of Network Optimization

1. Optimization enables the free flow of data through the optimal usage of network system resources.
2. Optimization tracks performance metrics, providing real-time reporting to help network managers proactively manage the network.
3. Optimization provides analytics and predictive modeling so that network managers can determine the impact any changes to the architecture will have on the network before they are implemented.
4. All these benefits add up to the most important benefit: driving greater network performance.

How to Improve Network Performance

• Data caching for a more flexible means of data storage and retrieval.
• Traffic shaping to maximize the speed and access to your highest-traffic network infrastructure.
• Prioritizing SD-WAN over WAN, further improving traffic shaping and supporting the most business-critical pieces of your network.
• Eliminating redundant data clogging network memory.
• Data compressing to further eliminate redundant data and encourage more efficient data packet transfers.
• Router buffer tuning to minimize packet loss and direct smoother data transmissions.
• Data protocol streamlining, which bundles data and improves quality of service (QoS) across your network applications.
• Application delivery suites that enhance how you see and track traffic across your network and control the flow and priorities of that traffic.
• Deploying flow visualization analytic software for 24/7 network monitoring.