Documenting a Network? 528
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?"
I know... (Score:5, Funny)
The Passwords.
Do what the guy before me did (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Department of Redundancy Department (Score:5, Funny)
Now I see this Microsoft bashing on Slashdot regularly and it's completely unfounded. I use a Windows-based PC and it has provided me with years of worry, virus and spyware free operation.
In fact, our PC's at work are WeOffer popular brand names drugs such as ViagraFrom $1.87, CialiFrom $2.38, SomaFrom $1.07, TramadolFrom $1.38, LevitrvFrom $2.52, Celebre, Zocor, Fosamax, Effexor, Zyrtec, Plavix, Premarin, Flomax, Paxil, Zoloft, Prevacid, and Evista. Now it's easy to get your needed drugs 0nline.
Easy (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Alternatively... (Score:5, Funny)
English only please... I don't understand this word "vacation" you have mixed in with the others.
Re:Better News (Score:3, Funny)
When I was part of an IBM sales team in The Old Days we used to scare prospects by asking to see their network diagram. Almost never appeared.
Then we'd ask who owned the network. That was good for laughs.
Finally we'd ask why the most important part of the network (the end user) didn't appear on the diagram (assuming they could produce one).
By the looks of it nothing's changed.
Re:Good News (Score:5, Funny)
You just thought I wouldn't catch a reference to Cicero's De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum.
Original Lation from which it was derived: ...neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum, quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci[ng] velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt, ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit, qui in ea voluptate velit esse, quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum, qui dolorem eum fugiat, quo voluptas nulla pariatur?
At vero eos et accusamus et iusto odio dignissimos ducimus, qui blanditiis praesentium voluptatum deleniti atque corrupti, quos dolores et quas molestias excepturi sint, obcaecati cupiditate non provident, similique sunt in culpa, qui officia deserunt mollitia animi, id est laborum et dolorum fuga.
English:
Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure?
On the other hand, we denounce with righteous indignation and dislike men who are so beguiled and demoralized by the charms of pleasure of the moment, so blinded by desire, that they cannot foresee the pain and trouble that are bound to ensue; and equal blame belongs to those who fail in their duty through weakness of will, which is the same as saying through shrinking from toil and pain.
What was that about my attention span?
Re:I know... (Score:4, Funny)
So that's what happened during the bank collapse!
Re:Good News (Score:5, Funny)
...fellatio uber alles...
WTF???
Re:I know... (Score:1, Funny)
I only wish the chief technician told me where my predecessor had hidden the note with the passwords.
Re:I know... (Score:1, Funny)
Whether the comment was intended to be funny, I find this to actually be a serious issue...
If the predecessor does write the passwords down, he deserves to be fired.
Re:Department of Redundancy Department (Score:5, Funny)
An old girlfriend tells you you need viagra, and you still dont't get it.
Re:I know... (Score:5, Funny)
Check the top drawer of the your desk where the paper clips are lying normally.
Oh? It is locked and you dont know where the key is?
Re:Good News (Score:1, Funny)
What was that about my attention span?
Pay attention!!! There is no language called Lation.
Re:I know... (Score:5, Funny)
That's knee-jerk stupidity, and you should be ashamed of your non-thinking fundamentalism.
I just assume that any event capable of destroying my ability to transmit said passwords to my successor also destroys any ability to give a damn about my job. Problem solved.
Re:I know... (Score:3, Funny)
No no, you want to keep everything in your head, that way you can't be replaced by someone cheaper!
Re:Good News (Score:4, Funny)
Not if they did their jobs right :)
Re:I know... (Score:5, Funny)
If you think that is ironic, then note that the story poster is worried his ability to get a job if he dies in a bus accident.
Re:I know... (Score:5, Funny)
So what was it like working for the City of San Francisco, anyway?
Re:Here is what I would get (Score:5, Funny)
Actually, it's a simple test designed to separate the people who should be working with the corporate wide area network from the people who should be forcefully prevented from coming anywhere within fifteen metres of the comms cabinet, using a taser if necessary.
If you have to ask which group your answer has placed you in then I'm not going to tell you.
Re:Documentation at your hands, and timestamped (Score:5, Funny)
> Trust spreadsheet
You pull the wrong cable.
It's suddenly dark.
You get eaten by a grue.
Re:I know... (Score:1, Funny)
The passwords are:
password
password1
boobs
Now I'm going to see how far I can drive with my eyes shut.
Ummmm... (Score:1, Funny)
that red stapler, ya, I'm gonna have to take that...
Re:I know... (Score:5, Funny)
If you think that is ironic, then note that the story poster is worried his ability to get a job if he dies in a bus accident.
maybe he could work as a voter in Florida?