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6 Things Your Network Administrator Should Be Documenting For You

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DES MOINES

OMAHA

WWW.INTERNETSOLVER.COM

A White Paper from Internet Solver

“What if something

happened to your network

administrator? What if the

network administrator left

tomorrow? Would you

have the information

necessary to keep

everything running

smoothly?”

Internet Solver 11308 Aurora Avenue Urbandale, IA 50322 515.224.9229 12030 Pacific Street Omaha, NE 68154 402.431.5432

6 Things Your Network

Administrator Should Be

Documenting For You

This report outlines the information that should be documented on every network. Effective risk management for businesses and organizations is much more than obtaining the appropriate insurance coverage. It’s about documenting the information necessary to function in the event of a disaster or the loss of key personnel. Here, we outline the information your IT staff should be providing to upper management to ensure the ability to serve your core mission if that staff were suddenly unavailable.

WRITTEN BY:

LARRY PEDERSEN, PRESIDENT CONTRIBUTIONS BY:

JEANNE STEWART, NETWORK ENGINEER DORA GROTE, CLIENT TECHNOLOGY ADVISOR APRIL 18, 2011

ABOUT INTERNET SOLVER

Founded in 2002, Internet Solver is a leading provider of voice and data solutions to businesses and organizations throughout Central Iowa and Nebraska. We primarily service the small-medium business market of 10-100 users. Through effective utilization of technology and staff, we provide the functionality of a fully-operating IT department that is necessary to support your staff, secure your network and protect your data. Internet Solver serves as an honest and friendly advisor to ensure technology is positioned for business growth. Our relationships with our clients create a connection where long term planning, reporting, advising, and budgeting are part of the services provided through organized technology planning and reviews. Our employees are honest, friendly, thorough, professional, and accountable who listen to the real needs of our clients.

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“We’re fine – we have an

internal person and

everything is running

smoothly”.

We have someone on staff…

One of my roles in the company is business development, continually reaching out to meet with decision makers to discuss the technologies currently in place in their operation and how they are managed. “We’re fine – we have an internal person and everything is running smoothly”. As I make phone calls and speak to business owners and managers, this is something I hear repeatedly. I can’t help but wonder if there is a false sense of security taking place. The first question I have is “If technology is not your core business, how do you know your IT person is taking full advantage of the technology tools available”?

Most businesses usually engage with a professional to review their internal accounting practices. You wouldn’t draft or sign a critical legal document without oversight from an attorney. You wouldn’t design a new building or facility without an architect. Yet, many organizations employ a network administrator to handle their most critical asset – their data and the network system - without any type of secondary review! Technology is not simply putting square pegs into square holes and round pegs into round holes….it’s designed to be modified to work with other applications and to fit each organization’s needs. Because of that, individuals often are able to manipulate and adapt systems until everything appears to be running smoothly. But is it? Is a potential “house of cards” actually being assembled?

Many times, that is not the case. However, on numerous occasions we’ve seen pending disasters. Again, this is not the fault of an internal administrator, rather it’s due to the lack of a support system to go to for input or guidance, lack of training on new technologies or simply, a lack of exposure to the numerous environments, solutions and best practices that a third-party organization sees from the larger base of clients that they are privileged to work with and be exposed to.

For the sake of argument, let’s assume that the internal staff you have in place is extremely competent (and most are), is well-exposed to new ideas and technologies, and adheres to a set of “best practices” to provide you with a solid, secure IT system for you. There is still a potential risk in this… Many times a large piece of the intellectual knowledge regarding the network (passwords, configurations, unique setups) is carried around in that person’s head, not documented for longevity. And, if that person suddenly becomes unavailable to you, that information is gone…… sometimes forever. The key then, is to determine what information needs to be documented and where it should be kept.

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1. Gather passwords

2. Store securely

3. Update Regularly

1. Passwords

Passwords – This is the first thing that comes to mind for most people. What unique passwords does your internal administrator use on the network? You might be surprised at how many passwords are used on the multiple applications in use on your network. You also might be surprised at the lack of creativity/security with the actual passwords used (but that’s another subject). You should have on file, a complete list of all passwords used by your IT staff for the network and key application found within. These include your “internal” system:

Administrator password for network

Firewall

Backup Software

Anti-Virus Software

Anti-Spam Software or Appliance

Line of Business (LOB) applications

There are also probably passwords that apply to “external” components (web-hosted applications, control consoles, vendor resources)

Online backup

Technical support websites

Internet Service Providers

Vendor Websites

Once you’ve been able to obtain a list of critical passwords the next question is “Where should these be kept”? After all, passwords are for security so they need to be available to a select few and kept in a secure location. Whether it’s electronic or hard copy, determine a secure location that is known to the appropriate parties.

Finally, like any documentation kept, it can become outdated. Schedule this for review at least annually with the understanding that your network staff should immediately provide you with any new passwords as systems are updated and anything is revised.

2. Key Vendors

Until they begin listing all vendors relied upon for key network

applications, peripherals and services, most people have no idea just how many different parties come together to provide a complete working network. Frequently, the network administrator is the only person having contact with some of these vendors and without a complete listing, precious time is lost trying to figure out “who did we get that from?” A Key Vendor Listing should at least include the following:

ISP(s) utilized for internet access

Phone provider

Application providers

Document imaging (copiers, printers, scanners)

Security / Surveillance

Product Providers

Phone Provider

Once your list has been established, identify a second contact to be named with each of these vendors.

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A picture paints a thousand

words”

3. Applications and Renewal Dates

Many times, applications are reliant upon annual subscriptions for product updates as well as technical support. Having this information together along with renewal dates can be invaluable. These may include:

Accounting system

Anti-Virus

Backup software

LOB applications

Firewall support

Warranty extensions on servers and key components

Circuits (This can be a source of savings as agreements expire – new circuits are typically available at more attractive rates)

4. Special Configurations & Settings

There are also certain settings that would be unique to your network, applications and user settings for remote access, data routing, peripheral access and other key functions. The unique settings should cover the following areas:

Router and/or firewall

Group Policies for users

Peripheral settings (printers, etc.)

Workstation settings

Key application settings and preferences

Wireless settings

A good idea is to maintain installation screenshots or instructions sets as well as backup files for configuration purposes.

5. Network Diagram

We’ve all heard the phrase “A picture is worth a thousand words”. This applies to a network diagram. If someone unfamiliar with a network is suddenly asked to help configure or troubleshoot an issue, there is no faster way for them to understand the basic configuration of a network than to have a network diagram that accurately depicts the key components found within the network.

If your administrator does not have access to a program such as Visio, they can simply either draft a diagram by hand. A network diagram should minimally have the following items detailed:

Server identifications

IP Scheme

Firewall identification

ISP / Communication links

Branch / Remote locations & users

Wireless Configurations

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6. Other Items

Often, administrators are responsible for anything wireless or “with a cord”. Document all unique areas that this may cover including:

Smart Phones

Phone System, PBX, VoIP

Imaging (printers, scanners, copiers)

Television

Cable

Satellite

Facilities

Regular Updates

This has been mentioned before, but it bears repeating……perform regular reviews to ensure your information is updated and accurate. Minimally, this should be done on an annual basis or preferably, it should be done semi-annually. Ideally, this would be reviewed by a third-party. Having a third party review of your information positions a new set of eyes to look over the information and to actually test the validity of the

information. Do the passwords work? Are the instructions and configurations accurate? Could an outside party actually access the necessary components of the network if they were called in to assist?

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“We can enhance their work

by placing an entire IT

department at their disposal”

What we can do for you

If you have an internal staff member designated for daily network support, we can enhance their work by placing an entire IT department at their disposal.

Imagine that person having a help desk, engineering services and a virtual CIO available to assist with work overload, difficult issues that need “an extra set of eyes”, technology research and planning, advice based upon over significant experience and exposure to multiple environments, technologies and manufacturers.

By partnering with Internet Solver, you could be positioning your internal position for success. At the same time, you gain the benefit of our years of experience and defined best practices that can reposition your IT

environment to serve your organization.

Having us there to compliment your staff means that they can now take vacation and not perpetually be on call. It also ensures that in the event of a catastrophe, the information has been documented and is not lost with that individual.

Protecting your network and ensuring the security of your data is a

tremendous responsibility that should not be underestimated. We’ve helped to identify items to be documented in this white paper. Now, it’s up to you to determine who is best suited to document and protect this information for the benefit of your organization.

If you would like more information about our company or are interested in having Internet Solver assist with documenting your network, contact us by sending an email to sales@internetsolver.com or call us at 888.368.6911.

Internet Solver

11308 Aurora Avenue

12030 Pacific Street

Urbandale, IA 50322

Omaha, NE 68154

800.368.6911

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