Common operational misconceptions

-Hammer- bhmccie at gmail.com
Fri Feb 17 14:52:23 UTC 2012


Let me simplify that. If you are over 35 you know how to troubleshoot.

Yes, I'm going to get flamed. Yes, there are exceptions in both directions.

-Hammer-

"I was a normal American nerd"
-Jack Herer



On 2/17/2012 8:29 AM, Leo Bicknell wrote:
> In a message written on Thu, Feb 16, 2012 at 08:50:11PM -1000, Paul Graydon wrote:
>> At the same time, it's shocking how many network people I come across
>> with no real grasp of even what OSI means by each layer, even if it's
>> only in theory.  Just having a grasp of that makes all the world of
>> difference when it comes to troubleshooting.  Start at layer 1 and work
>> upwards (unless you're able to make appropriate intuitive leaps.) Is it
>> physically connected? Are the link lights flashing? Can traffic route to
>> it, etc. etc.
> I wouldn't call it a "misconception", but I want to echo Paul's
> comment.  I would venture over 90% of the engineers I work with
> have no idea how to troubleshoot properly.  Thinking back to my own
> education, I don't recall anyone in highschool or college attempting
> to teach troubleshooting skills.  Most classes teach you how to
> build things, not deal with them when they are broken.
>
> The basic skills are probably obvious to someone who might design
> course material if they sat down and thought about how to teach
> troubleshooting.  However, there is one area that may not be obvious.
> There's also a group management problem.  Many times troubleshooting
> is done with multiple folks on the phone (say, customer, ISP and
> vendor).  Not only do you have to know how to troubleshoot, but how
> to get everyone on the same page so every possible cause isn't
> tested 3 times.
>
> I think all college level courses should include a "break/fix"
> exercise/module after learning how to build something, and much of that
> should be done in a group enviornment.
>




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