Need help pinpointing the cause of major broadcast in the network

  • Thread starter Thread starter Sam
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S

Sam

Hi,

When I look at our switches, I see LEDs blinking with a pattern which
indicates some kind of broadcast. How can I pinpoint what's causing the
broadcast? By the way I don't have a sniffer and even if I did, I don't know
how to use it.

Thanks,

Sam
 
Sam said:
Hi,

When I look at our switches, I see LEDs blinking with a pattern which
indicates some kind of broadcast. How can I pinpoint what's causing the
broadcast? By the way I don't have a sniffer and even if I did, I don't
know how to use it.

Thanks,

Sam
Click to expand...

Basic way then is to unplug the cables one at a time from the switch, till
the pattern stops. Trace where it goes then you have the culprit.
 
Many switches have a pattern-blink that kicks in after a period of network
quiescence so that you know the switch is still working correctly (not
frozen up).

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Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] (e-mail address removed)
* PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
* for the benefit of all. Private mail is usually not replied to.
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Hi Sam.

A sniffer is really the best way to find out. Try installing Ethereal on a
computer. It is free and not that hard to figure out. Broadcasts would
always end with .255 and the source IP address would be shown. I included a
sample line that shows what the output would look like for a broadcast that
in this case is used for ARP. --- Steve

http://www.ethereal.com/ -- Wincap needs to be installed also and is
available from the same link.

No. Source Destination Protocol Info
234 192.168.1.90 Broadcast ARP Who has
192.168.1.105? Tell 192.168.1.90
 
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