What is Network Availability?

Network availability refers to the operational status of a computer network and its ability to quickly make connections, process traffic, and respond to user requests.

What is Network Availability?

Network availability, also known as network uptime, is a measure of how well a computer network – whether a local area network (LAN) or a wide-area network (WAN) – can respond to the connectivity and performance demands placed on it.

It is a key consideration in disaster planning, but it also has critical impacts on everyday life and work. For organizations, network downtime or sluggishness equates to business downtime, at considerable cost to organizations through inefficiency, lost sales, lack of critical data for decisions, and other harmful effects. For individuals, network availability ensures the ability to communicate with and interact with others, whether that’s through a cellular network text to a friend, an online purchase or streaming entertainment, or a call for emergency services.

Network availability is calculated by dividing the uptime by the total time in any period. The goal is 100% availability, although another commonly referenced goal is known as “five nines,” or 99.999% availability. That’s the equivalent of only a few minutes of downtime in a year. A variety of measures, including WAN acceleration or optimization, may be undertaken to reach these goals.

Why is it important?

Network availability is paramount in today’s digitally driven world. It ensures that vital online services and resources are accessible when needed. Strong network availability supports seamless workforce responsibilities and learning in educational environments, as well as research, and administrative operations.

It’s not just about convenience at Nile; we believe it’s a matter of operational continuity and efficiency that should be expected from any network. When availability is high, organizations can trust their digital infrastructure to support critical tasks without interruption, thus maintaining network performance and stability.

How does Network Availability work?

Network availability depends on a complex interplay of factors, including the following:

• Hardware Infrastructure: Routers, switches, servers, and other network devices must function properly and be configured correctly.
• Software Components: Network operating systems, applications, and security tools must be stable, up-to-date, and secure.
• Connectivity: Reliable internet service providers (ISPs) and robust network infrastructure are essential for seamless data flow.
• Power Supply: Consistent and uninterrupted power is crucial for continuous operation.
• Security Measures: Robust security protocols and practices safeguard against cyberattacks that can disrupt network access.

Network availability monitoring benefits

Outlined below are the key benefits of network availability monitoring:

• Uninterrupted business operations: Availability monitoring is a fundamental part of a company’s network management strategy and can help ensure steady business operations. It enables you to build a highly available network infrastructure providing continuous access to mission-critical applications and services to customers while meeting pre-agreed SLA requirements.
• Faster troubleshooting: Continuously tracking network uptime and performance through availability monitors helps detect and fix potential problems quickly before they affect your end users. Proactively tracking network problems also helps limit the frequency of unplanned downtimes, which often lead to lost productivity, damaged reputation, and poor customer satisfaction.
• Improved network performance: Round-the-clock monitoring allows you to obtain more granular data related to overall network performance, including bandwidth utilization, throughput, and uptime status. Tracking these critical network metrics over an extended period helps detect and fix hard-to-trace issues and optimize overall network health and performance.

Ways to measure Network Availability

Several metrics are used to measure network availability, and some of them are:

• Uptime Percentage: This metric, aiming for “five nines” (99.999%) for critical systems, represents the time the network is operational.
• Mean Time to Repair (MTTR): This metric indicates the average time to resolve network outages, highlighting the need for swift intervention.
• Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF): By monitoring MTBF, organizations can predict and prevent potential issues, ensuring more extended periods of uninterrupted service.
• Packet Loss: This metric measures the percentage of data packets that fail to reach their destination, reflecting network congestion or instability.

Network availability vs. network reliability

Network reliability is similar to availability, but instead of measuring the amount of uptime in a system, reliability is the measured likelihood of a failure occurring in a system. Reliability tracks how long a network’s infrastructure will remain functional without interruption.

Network reliability is also measured in percentages, where a fully reliable system has 100% availability. Network professionals calculate reliability by dividing the total time in service by the number of failures — known as the mean time between failures — or by dividing the number of failures by the total time in service, known as the failure rate.

Conclusion

Network availability is at the very core of ensuring an uninterrupted flow of data, services, and communication. As we’ve explored throughout this blog post, understanding the critical importance of network availability is paramount, and it’s the responsibility of network administrators to champion this cause.

In your role as a network admin, you play a pivotal part in safeguarding network availability, ensuring that the heartbeats of businesses, services, and daily operations continue to pulse without interruption. You are the unsung hero, working behind the scenes to orchestrate a symphony of data, devices, and connections, enabling seamless productivity and unfaltering access.