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| 1.1 |  | Network Baselining |
| 1.1.8 |  | Predicting long-term performance and capacity trends |

As part of the planning cycle for the network, it is necessary to study network growth over a period of time. This study will provide understanding of how the network may continue to grow and provide data for obtaining funds for network expansion.

As stated earlier, baseline studies should be scheduled on a regular basis. By comparing the data from each baseline, long-term growth trends can be isolated.

These types of reports tend to be reported in terms of total bandwidth or total capacity for each link, for each device, and for the network as a whole.

Network growth tends to occur in large bursts. Monitoring the hardware components is just one aspect of maintaining the performance of the network. The network administrator must also coordinate the use and upgrade of software applications, adjusting the network configuration, accordingly.