First Impressions

What first impression does your network make?

Litmus Test

Guy recommends:
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VM Console

A free desktop tool that monitors, or restarts, your VMware virtual machines. Download your free VM Console

Best Practice (Litmus Test)

Professionals would say 'Here is a diagram of our network'

Amateurs are struggling to fix old machines

First Impressions

In the course of my work as consultant and trainer I have the privilege of visiting customer sites. Whilst I would never divulge company secrets or name names, I would like to share my first impressions with you. In my line of work, a rapid assessment of the customer is essential. The reason is two fold, on the one hand it is vital not to tell professionals things they already know; on the other hand I want to avoid talking over the head of those less experienced.

First impressions - indicators of professionals

As I sit down and they say: - 'Guy, here is a diagram of our network'.
As I enter the server room, someone says: - 'That SMS package worked a treat last night'.
On the screen I see a techie just finishing a terminal server session to a remote server.

First impressions - indicators of amateurs

As the client and I walk through a site, we pass some users. One looks up and says: - 'My file share is not working on this Windows 95 machine.' (This is 2003 and I think shares should be on the servers; also Windows 95 should be upgraded!)
I say: - 'Could you show me the application log in the event viewer'. They say: - 'Where do you find the event viewer?'
When we arrive in the server room, the first thing I notice is the 3-D screen saver on the domain controller. (3-D Screen savers are fine on clients, but they drain valuable processor power on servers.

Guy's Challenge - Download this free device backup utility

(CatTools)

CatTools is a free program for backing up configuration settings on hardware devices. Here is Guy's challenge. If you download CatTools, then it will not only take care of backups, but also it will show you something new about the hardware on you network. I could give you a money back guarantee - but CatTools is already free! Thus, I just make a techie to techie challenge, you will learn more about your network if you:

Download your free configuration backup tools

Download my Jumbo Litmus Test eBook $5.95

Over 40 of Guy's litmus tests. Have fun while you learn about Windows Server 2003. Stacks of ideas to check your servers, networks and security.

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Guy Recommends: SolarWinds Free IP SLA Monitor

SolarWinds IP SLA Monitor offers so much more than just uncovering network bottlenecks, the real joy is learning about router traffic.

To find out what's happening on the network between your computers and their routers, download your free copy of the of IP SLA Monitor.

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