Summary

This chapter identifies key data points relating to the system processes and resources in IOS routers and Catalyst switches. Highlights include some common best practices, such as buffer tuning, for working with key components needed to manage your network effectively. Buffer utilization, and how it affects the router, is an important component of performance management. Other important performance management issues include identifying CPU on the router and backplane utilization on the switch, and monitoring router memory, such as memory fragmentation and free memory.

Important error/fault management issues include checking resource errors on switches via the show inband and show biga commands.

The use of SNMP MIBs, along with CLI output, can assist in maintaining high performance and proactive fault/error management in your network. We'll look at the common interface-specific variables in the next chapter, which can be used in conjunction with these system data points for correlation.