There is also some value in "this looks out of place or suspicious", and making a change and observing the results, and then reversing that change as necessary.
Exporting a registry key before deleting it is a good example... if you don't get the desired results, reimporting that key is often a good idea. Making troubleshooting changes that "stack up" can often do more harm than the original problem... but as individual steps they can provide invaluable information. -sc From: James Rankin [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, September 23, 2010 6:37 AM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: Re: Kick Ass Sysadmin (was RE: It appears that the Symantec Virus has affected PGP already) I wasn't saying "random" based on "gut feeling". It was more an inkling that something was amiss with that particular function due to experience. Maybe I should have been more clear about what I meant by "didn't like the look of it". When a system is down and you're the only one assigned to fix it, sometimes time is of the essence. In situations where you have time on your side, a more structured approach is ideal. Also, if you have an agreed SLA, you can be more considered in your approach. Unfortunately that isn't always present though. However I wasn't saying I would just stop services for the hell of it on a live system that users were still able to access. That would just be plain irresponsible. On 23 September 2010 11:29, Ken Schaefer <[email protected]> wrote: Agreed. Making random changes to servers based on "gut feelings" what are bad, isn't my idea of a desirable troubleshooting strategy. Gather facts Isolate Issue Identify Root Cause Implement Fix Cheers Ken From: Andrew S. Baker [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, 23 September 2010 6:13 PM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: Re: Kick Ass Sysadmin (was RE: It appears that the Symantec Virus has affected PGP already) Another aspect of troubleshooting is the ability to keep track of what are actual facts, and what are as-yet-untested-assumptions. This includes knowing how to classify information that has been given you by the end user. ASB (My XeeSM Profile) <http://XeeSM.com/AndrewBaker> Exploiting Technology for Business Advantage... On Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 2:42 AM, James Rankin <[email protected]> wrote: It's not what you Google, it's how you Google it. Even when interviewing now I tend to try and look for people who can work problems out rather than people who can simply rhyme off lists of stuff - and I'm always keen on people who check the obvious things first. (Think "how would you troubleshoot a GPO that's failing to apply" rather than "name the FSMO roles".) There's an art to troubleshooting technical issues that's sometimes hard to define. It's probably the old "clean minds and scruffy minds" thing. Scruffy minds move in unexpected directions and try things that wouldn't necessarily make sense. I can remember fixing some random server hang just by stopping a service I didn't like the look of. It's only afterwards that we realised that particular app was opening loads of ports and generally monopolising the system. I didn't really know what I was looking for, until I found it. On 23 September 2010 00:31, Jonathan Link <[email protected]> wrote: Sometimes I wonder if I'm just a good googler... Seems like 90% of my issues have been tackled (and documented!) by someone else. On Wed, Sep 22, 2010 at 7:17 PM, David Lum <[email protected]> wrote: The place with the ad you mean? I don't remember, but here's one in NY that is not completely different: http://www.linkedin.com/jobs?viewJob=&jobId=1007553 I do think I am generaly kick-ass, just don't call me an expert at anything. My specialty is the near-vertical leanning curve that is needed on an occcasional basis. I get stuff like this almost every month: Q. "Hey Dave, is this possible?" -or- "Hey this infrastructure piece is down and the guy who usually manages it is out and there's no documentation, can you make it work?" In both cases: A. "No clue..I mean in theory it is somehow possible" <run off> <back in 45 minutes> "yeah we can do it, here's a script/tool/some other clever capability". The answer of course sometimes comes from this list, or Exchange list, or Michael B. Smith. Ok I'm not kick ass at all, but I know how to contact a LOT of guys who are... Dave "my expertise is knowing experts and how to contact them" Lum ________________________________ From: Steven M. Caesare [[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2010 1:46 PM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: RE: It appears that the Symantec Virus has affected PGP already Hehe.. type of org? -sc From: David Lum [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2010 2:26 PM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: RE: It appears that the Symantec Virus has affected PGP already That reminds me, I was looking at job openings and once place had the job description on their website "looking for someone who is kick ass at finding technical solutions...". Being an informalish kind of guy, I was tempted to apply just based on that kind of verbiage. Still like %dayjob% enough to not apply though... Dave From: Steven M. Caesare [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2010 10:16 AM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: RE: It appears that the Symantec Virus has affected PGP already I'm using that on my next technical evaluation summary. -sc ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to [email protected] with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin -- "On two occasions...I have been asked, 'Pray, Mr Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to [email protected] with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to [email protected] with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin
