You Inherited a what?!?
©1994, David A. Kearns

[NOTE: While this was originally written for Netware 2, it is equally applicable to NetWare 3 and 4. dak]

Some people inherit their looks or their brains. Some people inherit money, jewels or land. But you, Ms. or Mr. Lucky, you have inherited the network. Take heart, this could be the first rung on your ladder of success. After all, five years ago I was an 'Inventory Manager' (also the inventory clerk and data entry person) when I inherited the network. In four and a half years, I was Director of Information Services, and four more Inventory Managers had come and gone.

On the other hand, if you don't hit the ground running, it might be you who's dusting off the old resume.

To point you in the right direction, here are some tips I've picked up over the years from network veterans and novices alike.

There are two things you need to do immediately, just as soon as you've been given the responsibility for the network.

backup tapes

Find the latest set of complete backup tapes, that is the last set which was used to backup every file on the network. If its more than a week old, plan to do a full backup as soon as possible. If you don't have a backup tape device, beg, borrow or buy one RIGHT NOW! This backup could mean the difference between success and ruin over the next few days.

installation disks

Next, find the two sets of installation disks for your network. One set will be the originals, identified by the red Novell labels on them. The second set, and by far the more important of the two, will be copies of the Novell disks. This set contains the actual configuration of your file server and network. If you cannot find either set, or only find the original, red-labeled set, locate the vendor who sold your company the system. It is possible that they retained these disks in case disaster struck.

intermission

You can now sit down for a moment, and take a deep breathe. You've done the two most important things to insure that you can recover from a disaster. This might be a good time to go to lunch. On your way back, stop by the bookstore and purchase, or order, Building Local Area Networks with Novell's NetWare, written by Corrigan and Guy, published by M & T books. Over the next few days, weeks and months this book will come to be your best friend as you delve deeper and deeper into the mysteries of networking.

break's over

There are still some things you need to do on this, your first day as network administrator. I hope that, when you were given this duty, you were also given the password of the user named SUPERVISOR. If you were, now is the time to create another user who is "supervisor equivalent". That is, another login name which can do anything that the user SUPERVISOR can. SUPERVISOR is the most important user on the network, because only SUPERVISOR (or a supervisor-equivalent user) can do things such as create or delete other users from the network. You also need the rights and privileges of the SUPERVISOR to do a complete backup of the network. To create a supervisor equivalent account, use the NetWare utility SYSCON (for SYStem CONsole). Help is available on any screen of SYSCON (or any other NetWare utility) by pressing the [F1] key. You'll also find full details of using this program in the NetWare manuals, and in the Building Local Area Networks book mentioned above. For right now, though, here are some simple instructions. From SYSCON's main menu, choose USERS. A list of installed users will pop up on screen. Press the [Insert] key, and type in the name of a new user. Press [enter] when you are through. Now highlight the name you just entered, and press [enter], and a new menu will pop up on the right. From this menu, choose SECURITY EQUIVALENCE, and another user list will pop up. From this list, highlight SUPERVISOR and press [enter]. Now, keep pressing the [Esc] key until you return to the DOS prompt. Now type LOGIN and press [enter], and login as the new user you've just created. If you are not prompted to change your password, type SETPASS and press [enter]. Create a new password for this user. You should write down this password, as well as that for the user SUPERVISOR and store them in a safe place away from the office.

documentation

Even though you have the set of disks that was used to install your network, its configuration may have changed. Organize a set of documentation files, which you should discipline yourself to keep up to date, recording the configuration of your hardware, software and users so that in case a major disaster occurs, your network can be re-created. You'll want copies of the script files you use to boot you're file server as well as configuration information for network cards, hard disks and whatever other hardware is installed on the server. Additionally, you'll want hard copies of the login scripts for all users and any special configuration information they use, a list of their trustee rights, any account restrictions - in short, every bit of information about the users and groups that's stored in the bindery. Fortunately, there are tools you can purchase to do this for you. One I've used often is BINDVIEW+ , from the LAN Support Group.

Next, you'll want to prepare a network map and wiring chart. Essentially, this is a picture of all the hardware on the network - each PC, printer, modem, etc. as well as a diagram of how they are connected. You'll want to know what each port on every hub, concentrator or MAU is connected to. If you don't have the time to draw a picture right away, use a spreadsheet - Quattro Pro, Excel, Lotus 1-2-3 - to tabulate this information. There is now available on the market a number of commercial hardware inventory programs that will automatically collect this information for you. I use one that's bundled with Blue Lance's LT Auditor package.

DAY 2

Now that you are relatively secure in the knowledge that - should disaster strike - you can recover relatively quickly, its time to plan for the future.

Find out if there is a local NetWare Users Group for your area. You can call Novell (1-800-228-4684) to get this information, as well as the name and phone number of a local contact. Find out when the next meeting will be, and go. The local users group is your pipeline to up to date information about NetWare and networked applications.

If you don't have one, considering acquiring a membership on CompuServe, the world-wide information service. Among the companies who maintain forums (similar to a BBS or Bulletin Board System) on CompuServe are Novell, Microsoft, Borland, IBM, Thomas-Conrad, 3Com, SMC, Banyan and literally thousands of others. Its a great source of information, provides a relatively inexpensive way to have your questions answered, and is the easiest way to procure upgrades and bug fixes for the software you are using.

Get to know your local vendors - the people you bought your hardware and software from. Find out if you have a maintenance agreement with them. If not, find out what one would cost. While it may seem expensive, consider how long it would take you to determine: you have a bad power supply; how to disconnect it; where to get a replacement; how to install it. Then determine what that time would cost your company.

WHERE TO GO NEXT

If you've followed all of these tips, you are well on your way to becoming a successful network manager. Did I mention, by the way, that experienced network managers are in high demand by companies from coast to coast? Keep that in mind, because you're going to need to focus on something during the dark days that lie ahead. Don't get me wrong, most of them are sunny days, but there will be a dark day. Don't think of it as planning for the possibility of the network crashing, but as planning for the inevitability of the network crashing. Every network crashes eventually, but if you are prepared, you'll have yours back up and running very quickly, and upper management will see you as a white knight, or savior, rather than an impediment to business.