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Documenting a Network?
Philip writes "Three years ago I was appointed as a network manager to a barely functioning MS-based network. Since then I've managed to get it up and running — even thriving — but have been guilty of being too busy with the doing of it to document the changes and systems that were put in place. Now as I look back, I'm worried that I am the only one who will ever know how this network works. If I get hit by a bus or throw in the towel for any reason, I'd be leaving behind a network that requires some significant expertise to run. Ultimately, this won't be a good reference for me if they are trying to work out technical details for years to come. It looks like I'm going to have to document the network with all sorts of details that outside consultants could understand too (no, I don't want to be the outside consultant), especially since it's likely that my replacement will have less technical expertise (read 'cheaper'). Are there any good templates out there for documenting networks? Is anyone who has done it before willing to share some experiences? What did you wish your predecessor had written down about a network that you inherited?"
Sounds like a very easy way to over work and over stress your self, get some help one way or another. Summer is coming and I'm sure there are plenty of Comp Sci/Network Engineer/IT students that could of help. It may not be a bad idea if you make a plan of some kind before you go head in.
Whether the comment was intended to be funny, I find this to actually be a serious issue...
The phone numbers/emails for points of contact in other departments/companies.
You likely don't run *everything* and the new person needs to know who to contact when the interaction between inside and outside fails.
20 characters max for the password? How will I use my favorite poems as passwords?
Draw a horrible diagram in Visio (or similar) of what's connected where without any indication how it actually works!
Not really, because as most high level executives know, IT doesn't really do anything!
Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
...or if you show it to them they won't bother with reading it
This is more to the point. Most network admins have the attention span of a flea and won't read past the first sentence of anything you write; actually, I could probably expand that statement to include most people generally. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
No wonder our field and many of our professions have such a bad reputation.
I have read only a few posts and two (moded up 5) say pretty much to ignore the issue.
In several networks I have worked with fundamental information was non existent. This translated in lost time, down time and actually losing money (if you lost your job in one of those companies recently, the indolent SAs or Network administrators may be partly to blame).
You never know who the next guy will be, if he is less experienced or capable then the documentation will be very valuable, if he is more experienced or capable then you would have saved their time to do some real work, after all they (and you) have not being hired to do forensics.
How a professional can hide behind the "let's be real" nonsense is beyond the pale.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
If the predecessor does write the passwords down, he deserves to be fired.
That's knee-jerk stupidity, and you should be ashamed of your non-thinking fundamentalism.
Passwords do need to be written down, and stored in "escrow". I put the list of passwords in an envelope, lick seal it, sign and date the seam, and then seal it again with clear packing tape. Give it to the boss to put in his safe.
Yes, it's easy to open, but you'd know whether someone tried to tamper with it.
"I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
My school's network admin used to say that when he didn't have to do anything at all during a work day, he completely deserved his pay.
The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
Yeah, I think that's more or less true. At one of my previous jobs, I had a guy try to imply that I didn't deserve my pay because I "wasn't doing much". When I asked him what I should be doing, he said, "It's just that you have a really easy job. The IT guy at my last job had it much harder. He was always running around, fixing things. You just sit at your desk because nothing ever breaks."
I can't remember now, but I think I might have done a literal facepalm right then. I said something like, "Has it occurred to you that, if you think none of our IT stuff ever breaks, I must be doing a good job? If the IT stuff at your last job kept breaking all the time, he was doing a worse job than me?"
if they can't replace you they can't promote you