Network documentation

seccie

Hi guys,

I'm studying for my Network+ cert, aaand I've found an interesting sentence in my study book (by G. Clarke, excellent IMHO). It goes like "backup strategy should be along with network blueprints a part of your network documentation" or somehow like that.

Now my question: what in your oppinion should be contained in a network documentation? What kinds of docs are a must to call a ND complete? Do you know a resorce on the Internet with a template/index of required documents?

royal

There's no specific set of documentation. It all depends on company needs. There should always be documentation, but something as big as backup should definitely be included in their documentation on how the company goes about backing up and restoring their data.

As a consultant, we are always talking to their IT departments and the decision makers on what they exactly want. We have several documents that assist us in the process of all stages. Planning, Designing, Implementation, Closure, and more. In these phases, there are several different things we can include. Backup strategies (AD, Data, etc..), Procedural Documents, and more. It is up to the company to decide how in depth they want you to go with their documentation.

I hope this is what you were looking for.

royal

There's no specific set of documentation. It all depends on company needs. There should always be documentation, but something as big as backup should definitely be included in their documentation on how the company goes about backing up and restoring their data.

As a consultant, we are always talking to their IT departments and the decision makers on what they exactly want. We have several documents that assist us in the process of all stages. Planning, Designing, Implementation, Closure, and more. In these phases, there are several different things we can include. Backup strategies (AD, Data, etc..), Network Layout, Procedural Documents, and more. It is up to the company to decide how in depth they want you to go with their documentation. Perhaps they want a document on how to replace a router that dies and configure it exactly as how we configured it. That way they have not as much downtime. Perhaps they have an already configured router that they can just replace a dead router with and get the network back up and running very fast. That should be something that is documented. Like I said, all depends on the business drivers/needs.

I hope this is what you were looking for.

cburnham

I manage all the I.T. needs for a medium-sized Maine nonprofit. We have five sites, four have server-based networks, I have on-demand VPNs in place, Cisco and Linksys routers, a website to maintain, about 50 computers to keep updates, and I am the helpdesk as well.

To help me keep organized, I created a Helpdesk using Access to track the calls and solutions.

Additionally, I use Excel to document everything. I have several sheets:

1. Cover sheet; organization contacts, etc.
2. Vendors for EVERYTHING - e-mail/web host, phones, internet, Dell, Cisco, etc. etc.
3. Internet logins and subscriptions
4. E-mail accounts & passwords, aliases, ISP accounts, etc.
5. Each site has its own page, documenting how that site is set up, what equipment is there, network passwords, etc.
6. VPN information
7. Website information - FTP info, etc.
8. Software and Operating Systems in use
9. For the main (largest) site, a graphic showing our patch panel and switches and which offices are connected where.

Initially it was A LOT of work, but should I die in a plane crash on my next vacation, the person coming in will be very happy to have this. The most important part - KEEP IT UPDATED! Things change.

seccie

Hello again,
thanks for the replies. Actually I know which documentation can be prepared, what I'm looking for is the invisible line between "nice to have" and "required". The list provided by cburnham looks like something I can use...