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Exercise 12.1: Using Network Monitor
Objective: Examine the main window display of Windows NT Server 4.0’s Network Monitor application.

Estimated time: 15 minutes
1.If Network Monitor has been installed on your system, click the Start menu and choose Programs/Administrative Tools. Then choose the Network Monitor application from the Administrative Tools group and proceed to Step 4.
2.If Network Monitor hasn’t been installed on your system, you must install it, along with a component called the Network Monitor Agent. Network Monitor and the Network Monitor Agent can be installed together by using the Control Panel Network application. Click the Start menu and choose Settings/Control Panel. Double-click the Network application and choose the Services tab.
3.In the Network application Services tab, click on the Add button. Choose Network Monitor and Agent from the Network Service list and click OK. Windows NT prompts you for the Windows NT installation disk. When the installation is complete, click OK to shut down your system and restart Windows NT. Then start the Network Monitor application, as described in Step 1.
4.Examine the four panes of the Network Monitor main screen (refer to Figure 12.1). The following list describes the four panes:
 
  • The Graph pane is located in the upper-left corner of the display. The Graph section includes five bar graphs describing network activity. Only two of the graphs are visible, as in Figure 12.1; use the scroll bar to view the other three graphs.
  • The Session Statistics pane, which appears below the Graph pane, tracks network activity by session, showing the two computers in the session and the frames sent each way.
  • The Total Statistics pane, which appears to the right of the Graph pane, lists such important statistics as the number of frames and the number of broadcasts. You can use the scroll bar to reach other entries that are not visible.
  • The Station Statistics pane, which sits at the bottom of the window, shows statistics for frames listed by network address.
5.Pull down the Capture menu and choose Start. Network Monitor then starts monitoring the network.
6.Ping the Network Monitor PC from another computer on the network. (Go to the command prompt and type Ping, followed by the IP address on the Network Monitor computer—for example, ping 111.121.131.141.) Watch the Station Statistics pane at the bottom of the screen to see if any new information appears.
7.Experiment with sending files or other requests to or from the Network Monitor PC. Study the effect of network activity on the values displayed in the four panes of the Network Monitor main window.
  1. When you are finished, pull down the Capture menu and click Stop to stop capturing data. Then exit Network Monitor.