Top 9 Reasons for Network Switches Failure

Jul 05 , 2022 5307

The switch will inevitably encounter failures during normal use. Network switch failures can cause network downtime, affecting our business, production, and damage to our property, so we have to troubleshoot and repair the switch in the shortest possible time. Here we introduce you to the 9 common hardware and software failures of the switch.

Here we collect 5 common hardware issue of network switch: power failure, port failure, module failure, backplane failure, and cable failure.

1. Power failure:

The external power supply is unstable, or the power supply line is damaged or the power supply is damaged due to aging or lightning strikes.

The switch maintenance switch means "switch" is a network device used for electrical signal forwarding. It provides an exclusive electrical signal path for any two network nodes that access the switch. The most common switch is an Ethernet switch. Other common telephone voice switches, fiber switches, and so on.

Damage to other components in the machine due to the power supply also occurs frequently. If the POWER indicator on the panel is green, it means normal; if the indicator is off, the switch is not working properly.

Such problems are easy to find, easy to solve, and most preventable. For such faults, the external power supply should be done first. The independent power supply is usually introduced to provide independent power supply, and a voltage regulator is added to avoid instantaneous high voltage or low voltage.

If conditions permit, you can add UPHOTOSHOP to ensure the normal power supply of the switch. Some UPSs provide voltage regulation functions, while others do not.

Set professional lightning protection measures in the equipment room to avoid damage to the switch caused by lightning. There are a lot of professional companies doing lightning protection projects, and you can consider them when implementing network cabling.

2. Power failure:

When experiencing port connection failure issues, you need to troubleshoot in order. First, check the physical connection to ensure that the network cable or fibre optic connector is plugged into the switch port and tightened, and that the connector is not loose or damaged. After observing the LED indicators on the switch ports, the activity/link LED should be on, if it is off there may be physical connection problems. Then verify that the port link status is normal through the switch management interface or command line interface to ensure that the port is not disabled or misconfigured. If VLAN is used, you need to check whether the port is correctly configured to the corresponding VLAN and make sure that the traffic can be forwarded correctly.

If the problem still exists with the above steps, you need to try to reboot the switch to solve the transient connection problem, but remember to save or backup all important configurations first. Next you need to try replacing the network cable, fibre optic connector, or connecting the problematic port to a different switch port to rule out the possibility of a device failure or physical connection problem. Make sure that the network configuration of the connected devices is correct, including the IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway. Finally, you need to check the switch configuration to ensure that there are no misconfigurations or conflicts, and review the switch logs for more information about port connection problems. If none of the above steps resolve the problem, you can further check the routing settings between network devices or use network diagnostic tools to capture and analyse packets.

3. Module failure:

When a module of the switch fails, the problem is often more obvious because the switch consists of multiple modules, such as stacking modules, management modules (i.e., control modules), expansion modules, etc., each of which has different external interfaces, and once the failure occurs, it can be recognised by directly observing or checking the indicator lights on the module. Failure may be caused by improper handling of the module when plugging or unplugging, or by collision when handling the switch, resulting in damage to the module, or it may be triggered by unstable power supply.

The probability of these modules malfunctioning is small, but once they do, they may lead to huge economic losses. Therefore, it is important to make sure that the power supply is stable during daily operation and to be especially careful when plugging and unplugging modules or handling switches. When troubleshooting such faults, make sure that the power supply to the switch and modules is normal, before going to check whether the modules are correctly plugged in and whether the cables connecting the modules are normal. If it is confirmed that the module is indeed faulty, the only solution is to contact the relevant supplier for a replacement of the faulty module.

4. Backplane failure:

Each module of the switch is plugged into the backplane. If the environment is wet, the board is short-circuited by moisture, or the components are damaged due to high temperature, lightning strikes, etc., the board will not work properly.

For example, if the heat dissipation performance is not good or the ambient temperature is too high, the temperature inside the machine rises, and the components are burned out. In the case of the normal power supply of the external power supply, if the internal modules of the switch are not working properly, it may be that the backplane is broken. Even if it is an electrical maintenance engineer, there is no way to do it. The only way is to replace the backplane.

5. Cable failure:

In fact, this type of fault is theoretically not a fault of the switch itself, but in actual use, cable faults often cause the switch system or port to fail to work properly, so this type of fault is also classified as a switch hardware failure.

For example, the connector is not tightly connected. The cable is arranged in the wrong order or not standard. When the cable is connected, the crossover cable should be used but the direct connection is used. The two fibers in the cable are connected in an interlaced manner. The wrong line connection leads to the network loop. Wait.

(We have learned from the above that the hardware problems of the switch are often caused by poor computer room environment, which can easily lead to various hardware failures. Therefore, when building the equipment room, we must first do lightning protection grounding, power supply, indoor temperature, and indoor humidity. The construction of anti-electromagnetic interference and anti-static environment provides a good environment for the normal operation of network equipment.)

Software failure of the network switch

1.System error

The switch system is a combination of hardware and software. Inside the switch is a refreshable read-only memory that holds the software system necessary for the switch. This type of error is also common to us.

S, Linux, because of the design reasons at the time, there are some loopholes, when the conditions are right, it will lead to the switch full load, packet loss, wrong package and so on. The switch maintenance switch has multiple ports, each of which has a bridge function to connect to a LAN or a high-performance server or workstation. In fact, switches are sometimes referred to as multiport bridges.

B, TFTP, etc. to download and update the system. Of course, when upgrading the system, errors may occur. For such problems, we need to develop the habit of frequently browsing the equipment manufacturer's website. If there is a new system launch or a new patch, please update it in time.

2.Improper configuration

Beginners are unfamiliar with switches, or because various switches are configured differently, administrators often have configuration errors when configuring switches.

The switch maintenance switch means "switch" is a network device used for electrical signal forwarding. It provides an exclusive electrical signal path for any two network nodes that access the switch. The most common switch is an Ethernet switch. Other common telephone voice switches, fiber switches, and so on.

For example, if the VLAN is incorrectly partitioned, the network is unreachable, the port is incorrectly shut down, and the mode configuration of the switch and the NIC does not match. Such faults are sometimes difficult to find and require a certain amount of experience. If you are not sure that there is a problem with the user's configuration, first restore the factory default configuration and then configure it step by step. It is best to read the manual before the configuration, which is one of the habits that network management has to develop. Each switch has a detailed installation manual, user manual, and a detailed explanation of each type of module. Since many manuals for switches are written in English, users with poor English can consult with the supplier's engineers before making specific configurations.

3. Lost password

This may be something that every administrator has ever experienced. Once you forget your password, you can restore or reset your system password through certain steps. Some are simpler, just press a button on the switch. And some need to be solved through certain steps. Such a situation usually occurs when human forgetting or switch failure causes data loss.

4. External factors

Due to the existence of viruses or hackers, it is possible that a host sends a large number of packets that do not meet the encapsulation rules to the connected port, causing the switch processor to be too busy, causing the packets to be too late to be forwarded, resulting in a buffer overflow, package phenomenon.

Another situation is the broadcast storm, which not only takes up a lot of network bandwidth but also takes up a lot of CPU processing time. If the network is occupied by a large number of broadcast packets for a long time, the normal point-to-point communication cannot be performed normally, and the network speed will be slow or embarrassing.

A network card or a port failure may cause a broadcast storm. Since the switch can only divide the collision domain and cannot divide the broadcast domain (in the case of no VLAN division), when the number of broadcast packets accounts for 30% of the total communication, the transmission efficiency of the network will be significantly reduced.

The software problem is hard to find relative to the hardware. It is not as intuitive as the hardware. Therefore, the switch editor reminds everyone that they must make a record of the faults in order to accumulate their own experience in identifying switch software faults.

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