Link Bandwidth Graphs

With the Link Graphs page, you can:

Generating Graphs of Link Information

You can view three types of information about a link: bandwidth utilization, bytes and packets transmitted and received, and total errors for the link.

To generate a graph for a link:

  1. Click the link in the Cluster Builder or Cluster View network map to select it.
    The Selected label highlights the selected link.
  2. From the Link menu, select Link Graph.
    The link graph is displayed in a separate window.
  3. From the drop-down list in the upper right corner, select a graph type: % Utilization, Total Bytes, Total Packets, or Total Errors.
    The graph displays data for only one end of the link.
    For more information, see the graph descriptions table.

To generate a link graph, you can also right-click on the link in the Cluster Builder or Cluster View network map; then choose Link Graph from the pop-up menu.

Note: To generate link graphs, one end of the link must be connected to a Catalyst 2900 or 3500 XL switch. You cannot generate link graphs between candidate switches, or between Catalyst 1900 or 2820 switches.

Refreshing Link Graph Information

To refresh link graph information, click Refresh on the link graph window. If new bandwidth data was collected since you displayed the graph, the new data is displayed.

Note: You can change the graph polling interval by clicking User Settings in Cluster Builder, Cluster View, or Cluster Manager. For more information, click Help on the User Settings page.

Graph Descriptions

Graph Description
% Utilization Displays the percentage of bandwidth being used on the port corresponding to the link. For example, if the bandwidth of the link is 100 Mbps, and 20 Mb is consumed at a time, the graph plots 20% at that instant.
Total Bytes (transmitted and received) Displays three graphs: Total Bytes (blue), Total Received (red), and Total Transmitted (black).
The Total Bytes graph displays the total number of bytes received on and transmitted to the port corresponding to the link.
The Total Bytes Received graph displays the total number of bytes received on the port corresponding to the link.
The Total Bytes Transmitted graph displays the number of bytes transmitted on the port corresponding to the link.
Total Packets (transmitted and received) Displays two graphs: Total Packets (blue) and Total Broadcast/Multicast Packets (red).
The Total Packets graph displays the total number of packets (including broadcast, multicast, and unicast) received on and transmitted to the port corresponding to the link.
The Total Broadcast/Multicast Packets graph displays the total number of broadcast and multicast packets received on and transmitted to the port corresponding to the link.
Total Errors Displays two graphs: Total Errors (blue) and Total Packets Dropped (red).
The Total Errors graph displays the total number of packets that contain errors received on the port corresponding to the link.
The Total Packets Dropped graph displays the total number of packets that were dropped on the port corresponding to the link because of a lack of buffers or bandwidth or because of user-configured packet filtering on the switch.