HP TopTools for Hubs and Switches - Manual (Page 121)

Planning for Network Growth
Top Conversations
10-15
Converting Segments to Desktop Switching
If a workgroup has high network utilization and cannot be divided, the
Network Performance Advisor may recommend converting the segment’s
topology to desktop switching, giving each node a dedicated port.When two
nodes need to exchange data, the switch makes a connection with the dedi-
cated segments of each node. Extraneous traffic to the nodes is eliminated
and each node uses the full capacity of the network. Converting a segment to
desktop switching is most effective when the nodes can be placed on higher
speed ports to offset the latency of the switch.
N o t e If your network has a lot of multimedia or multicast traffic, or if you have
configured VLANS, a desktop switching environment is the recommended
solution.
Upgrading Segments to Faster Speed Media
The Advisor may recommend that a shared segment’s speed be increased
when:
1. The segment is capable of being upgraded to a faster speed, and
2. There are no nodes that can be placed on higher speed ports of a desktop
switch. Higher speed ports help offset the switch’s latency.
Dedicating Bandwidth to Top Talkers
Nodes that create a large amount of traffic on a segment are referred to as
“top talkers”. Network performance can be improved by dedicating bandwidth
to a top talker. A switch allows the top talker to use the full capacity of the
network. Other nodes on the network will not have to contend for bandwidth
with the top talker, improving their access to applications accessed across the
network.
If a segment with high utilization has a node that talks equally among all
segments, the Network Performance Advisor will recommend that the node
be on a dedicated port in a desktop switching environment. If utilization for
that segment continues to be high, the Network Performance Advisor will
recommend that the segment with that node be upgraded to 100 Mbps or a
Gigabit, depending on the segment’s current speed.
Top Conversations
The Top Conversations section of the report displays a table listing the most
active nodes during the time period examined. The table is sorted by utilization
percent. This section only appears if you have checked it in the
Modify Report
Settings page (checked by default). Enter the number of top conversations
that you would like to see.