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New Network Admin needs suggestions

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by storch

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Howdy,

I don't post often and when I do I am always asking questions of you folks. I appreciate all the great suggestions you have given me. So here I am again asking for more tips.

The last time I posted I was was the IT person for my department. That I could handle, no problem. Now I am network admin for various networks in various unconnected buildings. I am in a bit over my head but I am learning fast! I followed the previous network admin around for several days but it was a whirlwind tour. I think the best advice he gave me was, "Don't pull the band-aids off unless you plan to stay at this job for a long time."

I am dealing with this giant tangle fairly well and not ripping off band-aids for now. A number of things make me cringe, but for now I am concentrating on the largest forest fires.

I am hoping you can give me some general tips such as, "Take care of the Executive Director's needs first no matter what else is going wrong."

Please throw your ideas out there. I can use them. Oh, humor is good too. We need it.

Thanks,

4 replies

by shasca

Pay the most attention to the ares that would cause the most user downtime. Keep Anti Virus humming along. Email security and Spam filtering is a daily (even hourly) battle. Patch management. Equipment replacement schedule.
Monitoring tools are priceless to give heads up of possible problems before they happen.
If you don't have monitoring of servers switches and other main networking devices this is the time to get this implemented.

If not already done get yourself a test network to work with. You will need to stay ahead of the systems upgrade game. You can do testing that will emulate your network configuration with a good test network.

You need to prioritize Help tickets in your opinion of what is the most pressing issue at that time.

You have the "keys to the kingdom" don't lock them inside when you leave.

by churdoo

Generally, "band-aids" are a result of either low-budget workarounds, or fixing the symptom rather than the root cause. Try not to add new band-aids.

Also, every time you have to touch something, try to make it just a little bit better. You'll end up eliminating some band-aids little by little over time and you'll look back a year from now and realize how much smoother things run versus how they are today.

Oh and "Take no prisoners!"

by storch

Thank you both! I appreciate your help. I always get good advice here.

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