do you have ?
14 years 11 months ago #30453
by sose
sose
Network Engineer
analysethis.co/index.php/forum/index
do you have ? was created by sose
Brother Chris himself once gave me an advice about documenting my network, so he asked me the following questions :
1. Do you have a diagram that shows what connects to where and how, with device IP addresses, names, locations etc listed on it?
2. Do you have an IT asset inventory?
3. Do you have a list of hosts, MAC addresses etc and their locations?
4. Do you have copies of the current configurations copied from all your network devices and burned to a CD in a fire safe?
5. Do you have network traces, traffic graphs etc taken during normal operation as a baseline?
6. Do you have a proper listing of all your WAN circuits/ISPs along with the contact details of the provider and the information you'll need to give them when reporting a fault?
so these questions provoked me to look for more do you have question like the ones bellow
1) . Do you have a network overview for managers and potential future network managers like a Synopsis of what the network does for the company, what general technologies they use (Windows AD vs *nix OD, thin clients vs Windows boxes, Cisco vs Brand X)
2) Do you have a Points of contact for the ISP and other providers (anti-spam, anti-virus, hardware, etc). Passwords for various accounts and services sealed in an envelope and look in the CEO’s save
3) Do you have a logical network overview map, containing firewalls, routers, switches, other devices, open/forwarded ports, IPs, what the servers do, what vlans are in place, quick explanations for why (such as why vlan vs a separate subnet).
4) Do you have a physical map of internal structure of devices( like manuals) if the complexity of the network calls for it.
5) Software notes, what apps are critical for the business and which systems they rely on.
6) Do you have Licensing issues regarding software usage?
7) Do you have a list of Network weaknesses/points of failure?
Do you have a scanned sketch drawing of the entire network?
9) Do you have a spreadsheet with circuit ID's mapped to router and interfaces?
10) Do you have TACACS passwords / domain logins in a secure location (or radius or diameter or whatever you use)?
11) Do you have a document of trunk interfaces as well as the LAG's (Link Aggregation Groups, port channels, whatever you want to call it) ?
12) Do you have a paper detailing data center capacity as a function of 1. Rack Space 2. Cooling Capacity 3. Electrical Load?
13) Do you have write up of a brief knowledge articles describing any problem areas and explaining a history of anything you think would be hard to figure out easily, like a Root Cause Analysis of issues. And did you make this document part of your CMR process (Change Management Review) and incorporate it into the time allotted for a change?
14) Do you have a network protocol hierarchy map. Where are your major redistribution points, what is your routing strategy etc?
15) If you have a voice network, did you document all your DID's, PRI trunks, Gatekeepers, Dial Plan, and any translations you use on h.323 gateways or how MGCP or SIP is configured?
16) Do you have SSID's and BSSID's for any wireless you may have as well as passwords, 802.1x authentication methods, along with linking documentation?
17) Do you have a list of servers, with links to the services they provide and a list of services, with links to the servers?
18) Are all cable terminations labeled?
Documentation is a full time effort and there is no such thing as too much documentation. You would be surprised how good documentation can aid you in problem resolution down the road or aid vendor support in helping you resolve a major outage. The three basic principles of network care are document document document.
1. Do you have a diagram that shows what connects to where and how, with device IP addresses, names, locations etc listed on it?
2. Do you have an IT asset inventory?
3. Do you have a list of hosts, MAC addresses etc and their locations?
4. Do you have copies of the current configurations copied from all your network devices and burned to a CD in a fire safe?
5. Do you have network traces, traffic graphs etc taken during normal operation as a baseline?
6. Do you have a proper listing of all your WAN circuits/ISPs along with the contact details of the provider and the information you'll need to give them when reporting a fault?
so these questions provoked me to look for more do you have question like the ones bellow
1) . Do you have a network overview for managers and potential future network managers like a Synopsis of what the network does for the company, what general technologies they use (Windows AD vs *nix OD, thin clients vs Windows boxes, Cisco vs Brand X)
2) Do you have a Points of contact for the ISP and other providers (anti-spam, anti-virus, hardware, etc). Passwords for various accounts and services sealed in an envelope and look in the CEO’s save
3) Do you have a logical network overview map, containing firewalls, routers, switches, other devices, open/forwarded ports, IPs, what the servers do, what vlans are in place, quick explanations for why (such as why vlan vs a separate subnet).
4) Do you have a physical map of internal structure of devices( like manuals) if the complexity of the network calls for it.
5) Software notes, what apps are critical for the business and which systems they rely on.
6) Do you have Licensing issues regarding software usage?
7) Do you have a list of Network weaknesses/points of failure?
Do you have a scanned sketch drawing of the entire network?9) Do you have a spreadsheet with circuit ID's mapped to router and interfaces?
10) Do you have TACACS passwords / domain logins in a secure location (or radius or diameter or whatever you use)?
11) Do you have a document of trunk interfaces as well as the LAG's (Link Aggregation Groups, port channels, whatever you want to call it) ?
12) Do you have a paper detailing data center capacity as a function of 1. Rack Space 2. Cooling Capacity 3. Electrical Load?
13) Do you have write up of a brief knowledge articles describing any problem areas and explaining a history of anything you think would be hard to figure out easily, like a Root Cause Analysis of issues. And did you make this document part of your CMR process (Change Management Review) and incorporate it into the time allotted for a change?
14) Do you have a network protocol hierarchy map. Where are your major redistribution points, what is your routing strategy etc?
15) If you have a voice network, did you document all your DID's, PRI trunks, Gatekeepers, Dial Plan, and any translations you use on h.323 gateways or how MGCP or SIP is configured?
16) Do you have SSID's and BSSID's for any wireless you may have as well as passwords, 802.1x authentication methods, along with linking documentation?
17) Do you have a list of servers, with links to the services they provide and a list of services, with links to the servers?
18) Are all cable terminations labeled?
Documentation is a full time effort and there is no such thing as too much documentation. You would be surprised how good documentation can aid you in problem resolution down the road or aid vendor support in helping you resolve a major outage. The three basic principles of network care are document document document.
sose
Network Engineer
analysethis.co/index.php/forum/index
14 years 11 months ago #30475
by timparker
Replied by timparker on topic Re: do you have ?
Great Post. I have most of that for mine, but its a "few" months [read that as over >12 months old]. I started to update the existing document that was given to me when I got here, but haven't done a good job.
I will do the same and print this and get started, very good advice and questions!
I will do the same and print this and get started, very good advice and questions!
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