My selling point on documentation is that it's like carrying car insurance. Most of the time you don't really need it, but when you do need it you spend a lot less because you have it. Of course, the same people who don't want their network documented probably wouldn't carry automotive insurance if it weren't required by law, so you're back to square one.
-----Original Message----- From: Tom Scott [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2002 10:26 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: IOS Documentation [7:41577] Tim Champion wrote: > I have recently been asked to document the various IOS images used within > our network to be used as a baseline. Has anyone had experience in putting > together this kind of document? Good question. I hope someone takes the time to answer. Documentation is one of the most important, and most neglected, aspects of the networking profession. Establishing a baseline is a good start. It includes not only traffic statistics but also configurations, cabling, logical and physical topologies, and anything else that might make the job of maintaining and troubleshooting a network an enjoyable challenge instead of the headache it can be without documentation. I have a potential customer who refuses to acknowledge the need for documentation. He's got an AVVID network that "works just fine without having to hire a consultant to draw a bunch of diagrams" as he puts it. The guy who installed it told him it was zero maintenance, and nothing I've said thus far can convince him otherwise. So I'm preparing a slideshow about network documentation and baselining. I'd appreciate any suggestions, horror stories, success stories, etc. My philosophy is: Plan for failure. I don't mean that in a pessimistic way. It's just that, given enough time, all networks fail in one way or another. Some events are disasters, others only an inconvenience that can be worked around and coped with by non-technical users. But in the long run, something serious will happen, It's our job to be prepared for that and to reduce the negative impact as much as possible. How do we convince clients to invest in baselining, contingency plans and the like? Does anyone have a good book on this? other than the usual ones, like the CIT cert exam preps and Semester 8 from the CNAP curriculum? Is there any specific book or chapter or website that gives a template for baselining, network documentation, contingency planning? -- TT Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=41618&t=41577 -------------------------------------------------- FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Report misconduct and Nondisclosure violations to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
