Common operational misconceptions

Todd Snyder todd at borked.ca
Fri Feb 17 19:46:24 UTC 2012


as a 33 year old, I'm looking forward to hitting 35 so I can finally
understand what you guys are talking about!  Will I get some sort of glow
or achievement?

think I'll get a raise when I can add 'troubleshooting' to my resume? :)

On Fri, Feb 17, 2012 at 2:42 PM, Ray Soucy <rps at maine.edu> wrote:

> 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
>
> Epic Communications Specialist
>
> Phone: +1 (207) 561-3526
>
> Networkmaine, a Unit of the University of Maine System
> http://www.networkmaine.net/
>
>



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