Administration and Maintenance Documentation

Administration and maintenance documentation can be critical in maintaining a reliable network environment. These documents help an administrator of a particular server or set of servers organize and keep track of the different steps that need to be taken to ensure the health of the systems under his care. They also facilitate the training of new resources and reduce the variables and risks involved in these transitions.

Note that Windows Server 2003 systems, as discussed previously, can serve several different functions on the network, such as file servers, print servers, Web servers, messaging servers, terminal servers, and remote access servers. The necessary maintenance procedures may be slightly different for each one based on its function and importance in the network.

One key component to administration or maintenance documentation is a timeline detailing when certain procedures should be followed. As Chapter 22, "Windows Server 2003 Management and Maintenance Practices," discusses, certain daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly procedures should be followed. These procedures, such as weekly event log archiving, should be documented to make sure that there are clearly defined procedures and frequency in which they should be performed.

Step-by-Step Procedure Documents

Administration and maintenance documentation contains a significant amount of procedural documentation. These documents can be very helpful for complex processes, or for processes that are not performed on a regular basis. Procedures range from technical processes that outline each step to administrative processes that help clarify roles and responsibilities.

Policies

Although policy documents may not be exciting reading, they can be an administrator's best friend in touchy situations. A well-thought-out, complete, and approved policy document makes it very clear who is responsible for what in specific situations. It's also important to be realistic about which polices need to be documented and what is excessivefor example, document policies concerning when and how the servers can be updated with patches, newer hardware, or software.

Documented Checklists

Administration and maintenance documentation can be extensive, and checklists can be quick reminders for those processes and procedures. Develop comprehensive checklists that will help administrators perform their scheduled and unscheduled tasks. A timeline checklist highlighting the daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly tasks helps keep the Exchange environment healthy. In addition, these checklists function as excellent auditing tools.

Procedural Documents

Procedural documents can be very helpful for complex processes. They can apply to technical processes and outline each step, or to administrative processes to help clarify roles and responsibilities.

Flowcharts from Microsoft Visio or a similar product are often sufficient for the more administrative processes, such as when testing a new patch to a key software application, approving the addition of a new server to the network, or scheduling network downtime.