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So I’ve finally gotten things to settle down enough to start on documenting my network and hardware for my potential successor. So far I have every server’s role, service tag, ship date, warranty start and exipry, RAM and HDD installed, processors, Where it’s backing up to, when it can be rebooted, and its IP address. I also have processes documented for adding new users, as well as a few other processors I’m in charge of.

There is also a section on networking; which patch panel goes where, what switch serves which part of the building, as well as color codes for patch cables.

Is there anything you wish your predecessor would have left you? Any tips, tricks, etc that you would include? Should there be a troubleshooting guide? Floor plan/desk layout? Let me know your ideal network/workplace documentation.

Thanks!

How much documentation did you get when you first started where you’re at now?
  • As much as I could have hoped for and more
  • It definitely could have been worse…
  • Not terrible, but not the best
  • It was a’ight
  • Absolutely none
0 voters
5 Spice ups
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Other important items to pass down are:

  • Software Licensing keys (# of licenses owned. # of licenses used, renewal dates, methods of renewal, etc…)
  • Warranties info (expiration dates, contact information, Renewal methods for extended warranties, etc…)
  • Vendor information and support numbers.

Also, It would be nice to make a list of who is who in the office where to go to for supplies, work related issues, questions, and also a few menus from local restaurants. :slight_smile:

6 Spice ups
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I’ve been working on a documentation/DR plan for a while now. My boss said to just make it at a level of detail where an experienced IT person could pick it up and manage the network.

So, not so much detail that non-IT person would be able to set a DHCP scope or create a backup job in Backup Exec, you’d expect an IT person to know that. Just the lay of the land. That certainly helps with the scope of what I collect and document.

And I’m learning to love OneNote.

1 Spice up
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If you use Active Directory, it would be helpful to have a breakdown of:

  • service\IT admin user accounts - where they are used

  • Organization structure of your AD

  • Distribution & Security groups and what they are for

3 Spice ups
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You should also write down list of known issues (incidents, problems).

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A detailed inventory of devices is important as well.

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There was none when I started my current role but that wasn’t so bad as my first task was a full migration to vmware from physical. I got to build up the documentation from the ground up and that was kinda cool