III: Deploying Your Directory Service

Understanding and Deploying LDAP Directory Services > 19. Troubleshooting > Discovering Problems

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Discovering Problems

How do you discover directory problems in the first place? There are a number of ways that a problem might come to the attention of the directory administrator:

  • The monitoring system (if you have one) may automatically detect a failure or degradation of the directory and notify you about it.

  • The maintenance or operations staff may notice problems with the directory as they go about their routine directory maintenance functions.

  • Administrators of dependent services such as electronic mail servers may notice and report problems.

  • End users may notice a problem and report it to your help desk. The problem might actually be described by end users as a failure in a dependent system, such as an IMAP server, or as a problem with a desktop application that relies on the directory.

A failure may be detected and reported via all the above methods nearly simultaneously . For example, if a directory server becomes unavailable, you might be notified by your NMS software at the same time your help desk receives numerous calls from your end users. Those end users may report problems with any of the dependent applications, such as address books, email servers, and authenticated Web server access. Your operations staff might also be unable to run a regular data-updating procedure.

This is typical of distributed systems in which the individual portions of the system are interdependent. Part of the problem resolution process, therefore, involves correlating the various problem reports and identifying the underlying problem. As soon as you know what the real problem is, you can then inform users of all the affected services.

Ideally, you should strive to eliminate the possibility that your users will discover problems before you do. You can accomplish this through a well-designed, proactive monitoring system. This takes careful planning, but the payoffs are significant. More information on proactive monitoring can be found in Chapter 18, "Monitoring."

When there is a problem, you should clearly communicate to your users and front-line staff the following information:

  • There is a known problem.

  • How long you expect it to take to fix the problem.

  • Any workarounds or alternative services your users can employ in the meantime.

Plan well in advance how you will notify your users about directory problems. Common methods include publishing outage information to Web pages, posting outage information to Usenet newsgroups, and providing status information in a recorded telephone message. Whatever method you use, be certain that it does not depend on the directory itself.

Providing good information to your end users and front-line support staff serves two important purposes. First, it allows your end users to remain productive because they know which applications are affected by the failure and how long the applications will be unavailable. Second, your front-line support staff can be more effective in helping your end users understand the implications of the outage. Your end users will also have a better overall impression of your directory service and dependent applications.



Understanding and Deploying LDAP Directory Services,  2002 New Riders Publishing
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Index terms contained in this section

communicating
         problems
                    to user and staff 2nd
directories
         troubleshooting
                    finding problems 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
finding
          problems 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
problems
          communicating to users and staff 2nd
          finding 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
troubleshooting
          finding problems 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
                    communicating to users and staff 2nd
users
         communicating with
                    problems 2nd

2002, O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.



Understanding and Deploying LDAP Directory Services
Understanding and Deploying LDAP Directory Services (2nd Edition)
ISBN: 0672323168
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 1997
Pages: 245

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