What elements of a network can be tested and what steps can be taken to test them?

What will be an ideal response?

This should be an initial discussion on the topic without any depth into the actual technology used for this purpose.Encourage creative thought in this regard, but focus the discussion toward the cabling, the routing devices, and the hosts.The hosts have the most sophistication and can therefore implement more sophisticated tracking and logging mechanisms, such as network management software.The routing devices typically have enough sophistication to maintain a simple software construct for reporting.The most difficult aspect to manage is the physical wiring.This requires testing the connectivity between wired ports, including testing signal strength, attrition, interference, and loss.You can test a lot of the functionality and interconnectivity of hosts and routing devices with software.You will need hardware devices to test the properties of the physical cabling.