How do you test network changes and upgrades with monitoring tools?

1 Why test network changes and upgrades?

Network changes and upgrades can have a significant impact on the network infrastructure, devices, applications, and users, affecting configuration, routing, bandwidth, latency, reliability, security, and compliance. Therefore, it is essential to test network changes and upgrades to guarantee that they meet the expected goals, requirements, and standards, and do not cause any negative consequences or disruptions. Testing network changes and upgrades can help identify and resolve any potential issues or conflicts before they affect the production network. It can also validate that the changes work as intended and deliver the desired benefits and improvements; evaluate the performance and availability before and after the changes; as well as document the changes and their results for future reference and auditing.

2 How to plan network changes and upgrades?

Before you start testing network changes and upgrades, you need to create a plan that outlines the scope, objectives, timeline, and resources of the project. Additionally, you should have a backup and rollback plan in case something goes wrong during or after the testing process. To plan network changes and upgrades, assess the current network state and performance using network monitoring and analysis tools. This data can help identify the baseline, benchmarks, and bottlenecks of the network, as well as determine which areas need changes or upgrades. Define the desired network changes and upgrades, their expected outcomes and benefits, as well as the risks, costs, and dependencies associated with them. Then schedule the network changes and upgrades for a time window that minimizes impact on users and operations. Make sure to communicate the changes to relevant stakeholders and users, informing them of the testing process and potential downtime or disruption.

3 How to execute network changes and upgrades?

Once you have a plan for the network changes and upgrades, you can proceed to execute them in a controlled and isolated environment. To do this, you should create a test environment that replicates the production network as closely as possible, using network monitoring and analysis tools. You should also ensure that the test environment has adequate resources, security, and access controls. Then, apply the network changes and upgrades to the test environment with these same tools; they can help you automate, configure, and verify the changes, as well as detect and correct any errors or inconsistencies. Additionally, document these changes and their steps for future reference and replication. Finally, use network monitoring and analysis tools to monitor the network performance and availability in the test environment. This data can be used to evaluate the impact of the network changes and upgrades, as well as identify any issues or anomalies.

4 How to verify network changes and upgrades?

After you execute the network changes and upgrades in the test environment, you need to verify that they meet the expected goals, requirements, and standards, and that they do not cause any negative consequences or disruptions. To ensure this, you should use network monitoring and analysis tools to validate, test, and troubleshoot the network changes and upgrades. This includes validating that the changes work as intended and deliver the desired benefits; testing that they do not cause any disruptions; troubleshooting any issues or problems that arise; and reporting the results and feedback to relevant stakeholders. Furthermore, you should perform functional, performance, security, and compliance tests on the network changes and upgrades, stress, load, failover, and recovery tests to simulate different scenarios and conditions; monitor the network behavior under normal and abnormal situations; diagnose, isolate, and fix any errors or faults; document issues and solutions; generate reports; solicit feedback; and incorporate suggestions.

5 How to implement network changes and upgrades?

If you are satisfied with the results and feedback of the network changes and upgrades in the test environment, you can proceed to implement them in the production environment. To do this, you should deploy them using network monitoring and analysis tools that can automate, configure, and verify the changes. Documentation should also be done for future reference and auditing. Next, monitor the network performance and availability in the production environment using these tools to measure and visualize metrics. This data can help evaluate the impact and effectiveness of the changes, as well as detect any issues or anomalies. Finally, maintain the network changes and upgrades with these tools to update, optimize, and secure them. You should also monitor their behavior and response under normal and abnormal situations to detect any issues or incidents that may arise.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?