Skip to main content

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

The Latest

Industry experts offer predictions on how AI will evolve and impact technology and business in 2025. Part 5 covers the infrastructure and hardware supporting AI ...

Industry experts offer predictions on how AI will evolve and impact technology and business in 2025. Part 4 covers advancements in AI technology ...

Industry experts offer predictions on how AI will evolve and impact technology and business in 2025. Part 3 covers AI's impact on employees and their roles ...

Industry experts offer predictions on how AI will evolve and impact technology and business in 2025. Part 2 covers the challenges presented by AI, as well as solutions to those problems ...

In the final part of APMdigest's 2025 Predictions Series, industry experts offer predictions on how AI will evolve and impact technology and business in 2025 ...

E-commerce is set to skyrocket with a 9% rise over the next few years ... To thrive in this competitive environment, retailers must identify digital resilience as their top priority. In a world where savvy shoppers expect 24/7 access to online deals and experiences, any unexpected downtime to digital services can lead to significant financial losses, damage to brand reputation, abandoned carts with designer shoes, and additional issues ...

Efficiency is a highly-desirable objective in business ... We're seeing this scenario play out in enterprises around the world as they continue to struggle with infrastructures and remote work models with an eye toward operational efficiencies. In contrast to that goal, a recent Broadcom survey of global IT and network professionals found widespread adoption of these strategies is making the network more complex and hampering observability, leading to uptime, performance and security issues. Let's look more closely at these challenges ...

Image
Broadcom

The 2025 Catchpoint SRE Report dives into the forces transforming the SRE landscape, exploring both the challenges and opportunities ahead. Let's break down the key findings and what they mean for SRE professionals and the businesses relying on them ...

Image
Catchpoint

The pressure on IT teams has never been greater. As data environments grow increasingly complex, resource shortages are emerging as a major obstacle for IT leaders striving to meet the demands of modern infrastructure management ... According to DataStrike's newly released 2025 Data Infrastructure Survey Report, more than half (54%) of IT leaders cite resource limitations as a top challenge, highlighting a growing trend toward outsourcing as a solution ...

Image
Datastrike

Gartner revealed its top strategic predictions for 2025 and beyond. Gartner's top predictions explore how generative AI (GenAI) is affecting areas where most would assume only humans can have lasting impact ...

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

The Latest

Industry experts offer predictions on how AI will evolve and impact technology and business in 2025. Part 5 covers the infrastructure and hardware supporting AI ...

Industry experts offer predictions on how AI will evolve and impact technology and business in 2025. Part 4 covers advancements in AI technology ...

Industry experts offer predictions on how AI will evolve and impact technology and business in 2025. Part 3 covers AI's impact on employees and their roles ...

Industry experts offer predictions on how AI will evolve and impact technology and business in 2025. Part 2 covers the challenges presented by AI, as well as solutions to those problems ...

In the final part of APMdigest's 2025 Predictions Series, industry experts offer predictions on how AI will evolve and impact technology and business in 2025 ...

E-commerce is set to skyrocket with a 9% rise over the next few years ... To thrive in this competitive environment, retailers must identify digital resilience as their top priority. In a world where savvy shoppers expect 24/7 access to online deals and experiences, any unexpected downtime to digital services can lead to significant financial losses, damage to brand reputation, abandoned carts with designer shoes, and additional issues ...

Efficiency is a highly-desirable objective in business ... We're seeing this scenario play out in enterprises around the world as they continue to struggle with infrastructures and remote work models with an eye toward operational efficiencies. In contrast to that goal, a recent Broadcom survey of global IT and network professionals found widespread adoption of these strategies is making the network more complex and hampering observability, leading to uptime, performance and security issues. Let's look more closely at these challenges ...

Image
Broadcom

The 2025 Catchpoint SRE Report dives into the forces transforming the SRE landscape, exploring both the challenges and opportunities ahead. Let's break down the key findings and what they mean for SRE professionals and the businesses relying on them ...

Image
Catchpoint

The pressure on IT teams has never been greater. As data environments grow increasingly complex, resource shortages are emerging as a major obstacle for IT leaders striving to meet the demands of modern infrastructure management ... According to DataStrike's newly released 2025 Data Infrastructure Survey Report, more than half (54%) of IT leaders cite resource limitations as a top challenge, highlighting a growing trend toward outsourcing as a solution ...

Image
Datastrike

Gartner revealed its top strategic predictions for 2025 and beyond. Gartner's top predictions explore how generative AI (GenAI) is affecting areas where most would assume only humans can have lasting impact ...