On Wed, 14 Mar 2012, [email protected] wrote:
How do you handle 'vacation'[1] coverage in a solo shop?
It's a long process, as I'd guess you're aware. For me, the keys are
1. Configuration files in a central SCM repository. I use Subversion,
but even CVS is better than nothing.
2. Lots of *current*, searchable documentation with a decent Table
of Contents. I use Trac to tie together SCM and Wiki functions.
3. Configuration management software that manages as many of your
site-defined IT resources as possible. I still use Cfengine 2,
but it serves its purpose.
4. A general IT "customer" who's kept abreast of the current state
of the network, what's scheduled to be changed, where problems
are likely to occur, etc. This person doesn't DO any IT work, but
s/he has passion for and interest in your infrastructure. In a
traditional organization it may be your boss, but in our
environment it's usually a developer.
5. One or more backup sysadmins. In our environment, they're
developers. They're folks who are good at managing their own
systems, show aptitude in troubleshooting, and know when they're
out of their league. I keep these folks up to date esp. on issues
of accessing systems (like IPMI) and where services live. I use
them to proofread my documentation. I'm satisfied with the docs if
they pass muster with those folks.
6. An off-site contractor with mad skillz who's on retainer in case
the backup admins either are in over their heads or see a job
that will rob them of too many billable hours. These off-site
folks are usually people that I'd hire if I had the chance, but
who for various reasons prefer to be self-employed. They get
regular dumps of the documentation wiki.
7. A cell phone with good coverage. :-)
The relationship between the backup admins and your documentation
needs to be kept very tight. Pose "what if" scenarios (or, better,
have heavy network users pose them) and see what resources your backup
admins need. Ideally, they'll be able to answer "there's a doc for
that."
--
Paul Heinlein <> [email protected] <> http://www.madboa.com/
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