S.I.P.
Network documentation is the bane of many an administrator’s existence. Often, especially in smaller networks, all of the important information from administrator passwords to essential custom configurations are stored not on paper but in the network administrator’s head. Some may consider not having any documentation as a form of “job security”, others may see keeping such documentation up to date just one more thing to add to their full plate, and finally to the jaded veteran it strikes them as a waste of time because, “no one is going to look at it anyway”. All or none of these may be true for any given network and its administrator. A day may come, however, when that administrator has gone, taking all that knowledge with them and leaving the organization coasting until something critical breaks down. When that happens the administrator that stepped into those shoes may find themselves sitting in the middle of a maze of Cat5 and fiber drinking Red Bull while slowly and painfully rediscovering the secrets the last administrator took with them.
One of the most obvious reasons that good documentation isn’t done is that even if it’s the administrator with all the knowledge doing it, it’s a slow, arduous, mind numbing and daunting task. If the one doing it isn’t that knowledgeable admin, it magnifies into nearly impossible. The question on either’s mind is where do you start? This Senior innovation Project is a Scalable Network Documentation Model which seeks to give a structure to follow for documenting a network from the ground up regardless of whether any documentation already exists or not.
The complete document can be downloaded here for reference:
Scalable Network Documentation Model (Word Document)
Network Documentation Templates:
Manual Audit Information Sheet