Question

How do administrators find bandwidth hogs?

Answer

Administrators identify bandwidth hogs through close analysis of a network, looking for IP addresses, devices or applications that may be using more than their reasonable share of bandwidth on a network.

There are various ways to do this. Administrators can use the features of a wireless router to look at which devices and processes are using bandwidth. A firewall can also provide comprehensive information on bandwidth usage within the network, to supplement analysis of router traffic.

In general, the best way to find bandwidth hogs is to examine real-time use with visual dashboards. New third-party bandwidth monitoring tools offer these kinds of visual dashboards that make IP address and device usage transparent, and show administrators a real-time view of bandwidth use. This makes it easier to spot bandwidth hogs and manage the network.

Justin Stoltzfus

Contributor

Justin Stoltzfus is an independent blogger and business consultant assisting a range of businesses in developing media solutions for new campaigns and ongoing operations. He is a graduate of James Madison University.Stoltzfus spent several years as a staffer at the Intelligencer Journal in Lancaster, Penn., before the merger of the city’s two daily newspapers in 2007. He also reported for the twin weekly newspapers in the area, the Ephrata Review and the Lititz Record.More recently, he has cultivated connections with various companies as an independent consultant, writer and trainer, collecting bylines in print and Web publications, and establishing a reputation…

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