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Sudden Traffic Spikes: The Top 5 Causes

Dirk Paessler

When IT departments implement network monitoring tools, they get swarmed with data that they did not have before. This new information gives them the power to act on problems intelligently, oftentimes before they end up affecting end users. The challenge, of course, is to move quickly to identify what issue is causing the problem.

One of the most common problems network monitoring tools are employed to solve are problems with bandwidth. Availability is critical for IT departments of all sizes, and slow bandwidth creates productivity problems and even outages that have a real effect on businesses. Identifying the problems behind bandwidth drains can be difficult, so to help, I’ve put together a list of the five most common causes of sudden traffic spikes.

1. Mail Server Issues

It is not uncommon for a remote mail server to continuously deliver the same email through a company’s servers, even if the target recipient denied acceptance. Incompatibility between the two SMTP implementations creates a sort of endless feedback loop that sees the same email going through the server every five minutes, chewing up bandwidth in the process. The solution involves accessing the target mail server to deny access rights to the remote server.

2. Antivirus

Many of the causes of sudden traffic spikes are security-related, be it malicious traffic, DNS attacks, or sometimes, even the AV itself. Virus scans and software updates distributed inside the LAN are a very common source of traffic spikes, and can be easily dealt with by changing scan settings and performing updates during non-critical business hours.

3. Malicious Traffic

Malware outbreaks and hacking attempts can cause spikes in network traffic, often to either mask other malicious activity or because the malware is attempting to force login to devices.

4. Scheduled Backups

Many backup products are scheduled to run at certain time intervals, or at certain times of day. They also are very network intensive, and if the timing is off, can sop bandwidth during working hours.

5. Remote Backup

Some IT departments opt to use cloud-based tools for backup. While those present certain advantages, one disadvantage is that uploading massive backups to the cloud causes serious load issues. Similar to on-premises backups, these need to be scheduled carefully and performed off-hours.

These are not the only causes of traffic spikes, but it is a good example of common and preventable problems that plague networks. Some problems are more serious and involve hardware failures or router issues, which need to be handled with care and can require spending on new equipment.

In all cases, it is critical for IT departments to establish a baseline for their network traffic so they can understand when it is peaking, and set up appropriate alerts to notify them. Alerting, combined with mapping that identifies where problems are coming from, empowers IT admins to quickly and efficiently troubleshoot most any problem.

Dirk Paessler is CEO and Founder of Paessler AG.

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Sudden Traffic Spikes: The Top 5 Causes

Dirk Paessler

When IT departments implement network monitoring tools, they get swarmed with data that they did not have before. This new information gives them the power to act on problems intelligently, oftentimes before they end up affecting end users. The challenge, of course, is to move quickly to identify what issue is causing the problem.

One of the most common problems network monitoring tools are employed to solve are problems with bandwidth. Availability is critical for IT departments of all sizes, and slow bandwidth creates productivity problems and even outages that have a real effect on businesses. Identifying the problems behind bandwidth drains can be difficult, so to help, I’ve put together a list of the five most common causes of sudden traffic spikes.

1. Mail Server Issues

It is not uncommon for a remote mail server to continuously deliver the same email through a company’s servers, even if the target recipient denied acceptance. Incompatibility between the two SMTP implementations creates a sort of endless feedback loop that sees the same email going through the server every five minutes, chewing up bandwidth in the process. The solution involves accessing the target mail server to deny access rights to the remote server.

2. Antivirus

Many of the causes of sudden traffic spikes are security-related, be it malicious traffic, DNS attacks, or sometimes, even the AV itself. Virus scans and software updates distributed inside the LAN are a very common source of traffic spikes, and can be easily dealt with by changing scan settings and performing updates during non-critical business hours.

3. Malicious Traffic

Malware outbreaks and hacking attempts can cause spikes in network traffic, often to either mask other malicious activity or because the malware is attempting to force login to devices.

4. Scheduled Backups

Many backup products are scheduled to run at certain time intervals, or at certain times of day. They also are very network intensive, and if the timing is off, can sop bandwidth during working hours.

5. Remote Backup

Some IT departments opt to use cloud-based tools for backup. While those present certain advantages, one disadvantage is that uploading massive backups to the cloud causes serious load issues. Similar to on-premises backups, these need to be scheduled carefully and performed off-hours.

These are not the only causes of traffic spikes, but it is a good example of common and preventable problems that plague networks. Some problems are more serious and involve hardware failures or router issues, which need to be handled with care and can require spending on new equipment.

In all cases, it is critical for IT departments to establish a baseline for their network traffic so they can understand when it is peaking, and set up appropriate alerts to notify them. Alerting, combined with mapping that identifies where problems are coming from, empowers IT admins to quickly and efficiently troubleshoot most any problem.

Dirk Paessler is CEO and Founder of Paessler AG.

Hot Topics

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As businesses increasingly rely on high-performance applications to deliver seamless user experiences, the demand for fast, reliable, and scalable data storage systems has never been greater. Redis — an open-source, in-memory data structure store — has emerged as a popular choice for use cases ranging from caching to real-time analytics. But with great performance comes the need for vigilant monitoring ...

Kubernetes was not initially designed with AI's vast resource variability in mind, and the rapid rise of AI has exposed Kubernetes limitations, particularly when it comes to cost and resource efficiency. Indeed, AI workloads differ from traditional applications in that they require a staggering amount and variety of compute resources, and their consumption is far less consistent than traditional workloads ... Considering the speed of AI innovation, teams cannot afford to be bogged down by these constant infrastructure concerns. A solution is needed ...

AI is the catalyst for significant investment in data teams as enterprises require higher-quality data to power their AI applications, according to the State of Analytics Engineering Report from dbt Labs ...

Misaligned architecture can lead to business consequences, with 93% of respondents reporting negative outcomes such as service disruptions, high operational costs and security challenges ...

A Gartner analyst recently suggested that GenAI tools could create 25% time savings for network operational teams. Where might these time savings come from? How are GenAI tools helping NetOps teams today, and what other tasks might they take on in the future as models continue improving? In general, these savings come from automating or streamlining manual NetOps tasks ...

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A large majority (86%) of data management and AI decision makers cite protecting data privacy as a top concern, with 76% of respondents citing ROI on data privacy and AI initiatives across their organization, according to a new Harris Poll from Collibra ...

According to Gartner, Inc. the following six trends will shape the future of cloud over the next four years, ultimately resulting in new ways of working that are digital in nature and transformative in impact ...

2020 was the equivalent of a wedding with a top-shelf open bar. As businesses scrambled to adjust to remote work, digital transformation accelerated at breakneck speed. New software categories emerged overnight. Tech stacks ballooned with all sorts of SaaS apps solving ALL the problems — often with little oversight or long-term integration planning, and yes frequently a lot of duplicated functionality ... But now the music's faded. The lights are on. Everyone from the CIO to the CFO is checking the bill. Welcome to the Great SaaS Hangover ...

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