I recently took over the role of NetAdmin at my job and I've been given the task of creating a checklist for the daily/weekly/monthly duties of the Network Administrator so I wanted to get some feedback on everyone's thoughts regarding what to add on this list. The first thing I do is check which users are locked out of their account then I'll check to see if the tape back-ups were successful. All feedback is welcome and if anyone has a template to use that would be good.
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Network Administrator Daily Checklist 3
- Thread starter shakatak
- Start date
We just go through and make sure the backups completed or are still running, make sure that nothing is out of the ordinary as far as network connectivity and sometimes check logs from our ISA server, we dont have alot of security audits (none) but if I did I would probably check those out also if I didnt get any email alerts. Oh yea, if I was you I would setup some email alerts for status on your servers and UPS units.
We used to have to make sure our A/C unit was working after the super scare of 120* degrees in the server room... luckily the units didnt sustain any complete failures and we were able to remedy all issues that came about from that without losing our jobs
We used to have to make sure our A/C unit was working after the super scare of 120* degrees in the server room... luckily the units didnt sustain any complete failures and we were able to remedy all issues that came about from that without losing our jobs
- Thread starter
- #3
Funny you mention the AC issue because that's exactly what brought on this task that I've been given for creating a checklist. The AC went out in our server room and luckily it was caught at 87 degrees or it could have been worse. We got someone to fix the AC but since I'm new to the role of Net Admin I was wondering what are some of the daily duties that other Net Admins take care of along with the weekly and monthly duties. So far I've got the rotating tapes schedule as a weekly duty and the month end tape back up as a monthly duty. I've also added the "apply service/security patches and updates" to the monthly list, but I need to add a few more things to the daily list.
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- #4
It depends on the infrastructure you're supporting. Do you have special apps, network devices, special servers, disk units.
Among your tasks (regardless of environment) should include
- Maintaining up to date documentation of your environment
- Maintain hardware inventory (servers, disk units, network gear)
- Checking server logs
- Performance management
- Health Checking
- Verifying/Auditing security on your servers (who has access to what and why)
Hope this helps
Among your tasks (regardless of environment) should include
- Maintaining up to date documentation of your environment
- Maintain hardware inventory (servers, disk units, network gear)
- Checking server logs
- Performance management
- Health Checking
- Verifying/Auditing security on your servers (who has access to what and why)
Hope this helps
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1
- #5
captaincrunch00
IS-IT--Management
Also you should check your Syslog or whatever is in place (or get something in place) so you can see who is accessing your firewall, routers, switches and all that good stuff. This is just another Daily thing.
Documentation is the biggest thing, and man is it annoying. It's more pay, but I'd rather just go around fixing stuff for 10 hours per day instead of being chained to my desk and inputting the 75 new PCs that we bought and taking out the old ones in my database.
Anything you do needs step by step instructions, if you dont have documentation for changing the music on hold, or you dont have documentation for doing IDS signatures, or Antivirus updates, updates to the email antivirus, spam filter... Just junk like that will keep an Admin busy and keep them tearing their hair out.
Do you have all of the licensing in order, you can prove you have enough licenses for your servers and workstations for everything from Windows to Antivirus to Spam to Encrypting email... Anything you can think of, write it down and file it away.
Documentation is the biggest thing, and man is it annoying. It's more pay, but I'd rather just go around fixing stuff for 10 hours per day instead of being chained to my desk and inputting the 75 new PCs that we bought and taking out the old ones in my database.
Anything you do needs step by step instructions, if you dont have documentation for changing the music on hold, or you dont have documentation for doing IDS signatures, or Antivirus updates, updates to the email antivirus, spam filter... Just junk like that will keep an Admin busy and keep them tearing their hair out.
Do you have all of the licensing in order, you can prove you have enough licenses for your servers and workstations for everything from Windows to Antivirus to Spam to Encrypting email... Anything you can think of, write it down and file it away.
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- #6
Hey, I am currently in a similar position;
Tasks for me:
#1 - Setup the back up schedule and get good software. ntbackup was fine but is not as reliable as good backup software like Veritas Backup Exec (for example)
#2 - Check NTFS/Share permissions. Most suggest to open up Share to Everyone but do all the access control through NTFS Security.
#3 - Get good auditing and tracking software. I highly recommend Spiceworks Desktop (it's free and feature full) and also any software from GFI (LANGuard, etc.)
Tasks for me:
#1 - Setup the back up schedule and get good software. ntbackup was fine but is not as reliable as good backup software like Veritas Backup Exec (for example)
#2 - Check NTFS/Share permissions. Most suggest to open up Share to Everyone but do all the access control through NTFS Security.
#3 - Get good auditing and tracking software. I highly recommend Spiceworks Desktop (it's free and feature full) and also any software from GFI (LANGuard, etc.)
- Thread starter
- #7
Nice! Thanks for all the tips. I definitely have noticed that A LOT of the stuff is documentation and YES, it's a pain in the a$$!
Here is a list of Daily duties that I have so far.
-Check for locked-out accounts and notify the users.
-Check voicemail for urgent/priority issues.
-Check previous night's back-up job (Veritas Backup Exec)
-Add/modify/delete office equipment/hardware in Asset DB
Here is a list of Daily duties that I have so far.
-Check for locked-out accounts and notify the users.
-Check voicemail for urgent/priority issues.
-Check previous night's back-up job (Veritas Backup Exec)
-Add/modify/delete office equipment/hardware in Asset DB
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