I think I have just rediscovered my “Madsen’s Rules of
Troubleshooting”… Every once in a while you should go back to your
basics and remember the first principles you learned in your career.
Anyway, the following are my basic troubleshooting tactics that I use
to efficiently determine solutions to the problems I face with
technology.
Rule #1: Check the cables… I would put a conservative estimate at
roughly 50% of the problems I face are related to some cable being
loose or disconnected.
Rule #2: Analyze what just changed… After rule #1, usually problems
are caused by a change in the environment.
Rule #3: Know your resources… Have a couple of good online
communities and a couple of good personal gurus you can go to in times
of need. Why spend 4 hours researching a problem if it’s likely that
one of your resources has the answer and can explain it to you in 5
minutes?
Rule #4: Let your troubleshooting brain rest every now and then… I
can’t count the number of times where I have spent 2 to 4 hours
troubleshooting some problem, only to get up and switch my brain focus
and have the answer come to me 5 minutes later.
I probably have more, but these are the ones that bring me back to my
core efficiencies. Please feel to suggest your own and we’ll come up
with a good set of “Network Goalie Rules of Troubleshooting.”