It works, but is it good?
The new set-up at Willow Print Shop is finished. The owner asks: is it fast enough? Will it cope when we hire three more people?
"It seems fine" is not an answer. You need tests, numbers and a clear report.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can test a small office set-up, record the results and suggest improvements.
Key words
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Network | devices joined so they can share data |
| Ping | a test that sends a small message and waits for a reply |
| Benchmark | a measured result you compare against later |
| Performance | how fast and smoothly the network works |
| Capacity | how much work it can carry at once |
| Scalability | how easily it can grow |
| Reliability | how often it works without a fault |
| Accessibility | how easily everyone can use it, whatever their needs |
| Router | a box that joins networks and sends data between them |
| IP address | a number that names a device on a network |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Starter: what you already know
Have a go
Starter: what you already know
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
Test with tools and write down the result
ping sends a small message to another device. If the device replies, the link works. The reply also shows how long it took, in milliseconds. A short time is better.
ipconfig on Windows, or ip addr on Linux, shows the IP address the device really has.
A benchmark is a measured result. For example, time how long it takes to copy a 100 MB file to the server. Do it again after a change, under the same conditions, and compare.
Reading a ping
| What you see | What it usually means |
|---|---|
| A reply with a short time | The link works and is quick |
| A reply with a very long time | The link works but is slow or busy |
| Request timed out | No reply: a fault, a block or the device is off |
| Some replies and some timeouts | An unsteady link, such as a loose cable or weak Wi-Fi |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Check
Have a go
Check
4 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.