In troubleshooting network problems it is often helpful to analyze the actual packet traffic that is occurring between hosts.

We use, and recommend Ethereal for this purpose.

Using ethereal you can drill down into the application protocol of packet traffic. You can also save the trace to a file, which is useful when working with another party such as Collective Support. Please be aware of any sensitive data (usernames, passwords) that you have recorded in the trace.

Note as well that if you are using SSL or another encrypted protocol, a network analyzer such as Ethereal may not yield any helpful information (since the traffic will not be decodable).

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