Common operational misconceptions

Fri Feb 17 19:42:05 UTC 2012

As someone who was born in 1984 I respectfully disagree. ;-)

On Fri, Feb 17, 2012 at 9:52 AM, -Hammer- <bhmccie at gmail.com> wrote:
> 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.
>>
>

-- 
Ray Soucy

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