| New businesses and small teams don't think about | | | | |
| support and maintenance plan until something | | | | Updates |
| forces them to think about it. It's good practice to | | | | Install only during downtime. Before running |
| have documentation about your computing | | | | updates make sure you backup the machine. Plan |
| environment, have procedures in place and | | | | ahead what updates you need to run (Microsoft, |
| thoughts around other areas such as disaster | | | | Firmware and other utilities). |
| recovery. It's also important to have a backup | | | | Try out: Windows Server Update Service |
| person to go to if your main IT person is not | | | | (WSUS). |
| around. Here's an outline of a plan that covers the | | | | |
| major components. | | | | Health and Performance Monitoring |
| Start with a description of your current | | | | [ ] What data do you want to collect? |
| infrastructure: | | | | Current performance, identify incidents, unusual |
| [ ] Inventory all equipment. | | | | traffic/congestion, etc. |
| [ ] Make a list of vendors contact data and | | | | [ ] What are you currently using? |
| account numbers. | | | | [ ] What are the steps or checks to be done |
| [ ] Create a detail network map. | | | | here? |
| [ ] Make a list of the tools and applications you | | | | Tip: Run tests on a healthy network and compile |
| currently use and what they do. | | | | data that you can use to compare against results |
| [ ] Document any special configuration. | | | | in the future. |
| | | | | |
| Tip: Consider taking a picture of the setup to help | | | | Power Failure |
| others visually identify the setup... Of course, this | | | | In the case of a power failure, what happens to |
| really only helps if you're lab isn't | | | | your computing environment. Sure you have a |
| row-after-row-after-row of the same | | | | UPS, but if the power fails and you're not around |
| rack-mounted guys. :) | | | | to properly shutdown the system, what then? |
| | | | | Consider setting up a program that detects when |
| Preventive Maintenance: | | | | the UPS battery is on and automatically |
| List activities you can do here. For example, think | | | | shutdowns the machine. Finally, test to see if the |
| about expected life of the equipment, budget for | | | | UPS works. |
| new equipment, additional capabilities for the | | | | |
| system (planning for expansion), and how to find | | | | Backups |
| deficiencies in your system. | | | | [ ] Where are you storing the backups? |
| | | | | [ ] Write instructions for labeling and storing all |
| Maintenance Procedures: | | | | backup files. |
| [ ] Start a log book for keeping records of all | | | | [ ] Test the restore process, make sure the |
| activities. | | | | backup works. |
| [ ] Set a time (downtime) when you can take | | | | [ ] Create a schedule and have it set to |
| down the network. Example: last Friday of the | | | | automatically run. |
| month from 1am - 3am. | | | | |
| | | | | Disaster Recovery Plan: |
| Server Maintenance | | | | Create scenarios is probably the best to way to |
| [ ] Check Hardware - clean when necessary | | | | understand dependencies, the impact of a failure, |
| (machines, cables, switches, battery backup). | | | | and identify critical components. For each |
| [ ] Review logs for errors. | | | | scenario think about how you will recover data, if |
| [ ] Run MS Baseline Security. | | | | there's a redundant system to switch to, |
| [ ] Make sure Antivirus protection up to date. | | | | pirorities, etc. |
| [ ] Disk Cleanup & Defrag. | | | | |
| Ask the question: How many of these activities | | | | Who's Responsible for What? |
| can be automated using Windows Task | | | | Last but not least...assign people to the task that |
| Scheduler? | | | | you define. |