Episode 182: Optical, Hardware, and Performance Issues — Identifying and Resolving Problems

This episode revisits advanced troubleshooting at the hardware and optical layer. We cover transceiver problems, dirty fiber connectors, power mismatches, and switch backplane limitations. You'll learn how to read interface stats for clues, test suspect links, and isolate faults in a complex network environment.

We also explain how hardware limits—such as CPU, memory, or buffer overruns—can degrade throughput and cause latency spikes. Recognizing these bottlenecks and addressing them quickly is key to performance stability. This episode ties together visibility, monitoring, and hands-on testing for deep diagnostics.