User Training

The topic of training can cover a large territory. Users should be trained to acquire the necessary skills needed for new applications or new ways of doing ordinary tasks when the network changes. In-house personnel who have the skills and the time to devote to the process can do training. For large projects it might be more economical to employ outside resources for training users. Additionally, there are various training resources you can make available to your users for most popular applications. These include training videos , computer-based training (CBT) applications, programs presented by user groups, and so on.

Make users aware of the resources at their disposal from the beginning, and begin training before major changes are made so that the users will be better able to cope with the new environment. Users who are trained in advance for a new application or procedure are less likely to cause a strain on the upgrade team's resources while the upgrade is proceeding.

Closing the Book”Documenting What Has Changed and Why

When a major project comes to a close, it is a good idea to compile a short report that details the project, from the evaluation and planning stages all the way through to the deployment and user -acceptance stage. This historical document can serve in the future when it comes time to take on another project of a similar scope. It also can be presented to management to make them aware of the scope of what has been accomplished. This visibility can be very beneficial to a network administrator's career!

Other Considerations for Upgrading

Undertaking a major upgrade to a network is not a task to be taken lightly. As with any large undertaking, it is best to try to accomplish your main goals with the least amount of excess baggage. With a large number of users, it is easy to become overwhelmed with the volume of suggestions or requests when the user community finds out that major changes are being planned. However, for each additional task you add to your plan, you also add to the probability that something will go wrong. So, after deciding on the basic goals, try to stick to only the tasks that will be needed to accomplish those goals and do not get sidetracked by unimportant issues that can be best settled later.

However, you should consider this time to be an opportunity that can be used to incorporate new technologies or functionality into the network that otherwise would require additional downtime for the network. For example, if you are about to begin upgrading user workstations throughout a department or an enterprise and you have been considering adopting DHCP, what better time to do so than now? If you are already going to put the user out of work for a short period, and the workstation is off the network, this kind of situation is ideal for bringing in a new administrative tool such as DHCP.

Housekeeping is another function that can fit nicely into an upgrade plan: Out with the old and in with the new, so to speak. Old programs that never quite went away can be removed during an upgrade process. An upgrade can be a good time to set a deadline for users who have not yet abandoned older applications that can be better performed by newer applications.

Chapter 5. Protecting the Network: Preventative Maintenance Techniques

SOME OF THE MAIN TOPICS IN THIS CHAPTER ARE

Power Conditioning and Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPSs)

Network Monitoring

Server and Workstation Backups

Routine Maintenance

Building Redundancy into the Network

Recovery Planning

Justifying Preventative Maintenance

This chapter looks at some important preventive maintenance ideas to consider employing in your network. The size and composition of your network will determine which of the ideas in this chapter you should use. Not all are appropriate for every network. Some are prohibitively expensive for smaller networks. Yet it is important to be aware of the possibilities so that as your network grows and you plan for upgrades, you also can make plans for additional procedures and devices that can protect the growing network from downtime and preserve your valuable data.