Network Troubleshooting Tools

Appendix B. Resources and References

A good network administrator is part librarian. Anyone who thinks he can learn everything he needs in this profession from a single book, or even a couple of dozen books, is lost in a fantasy world. This appendix is designed to get you up to speed quickly, but professional growth is a never-ending task. I am not attempting to be exhaustive or definitive here. I’m just trying to give some starting places that have worked for me. This is a personal overview of my favorites.

Sources of Information

While this appendix is devoted primarily to books, there is a variety of other obvious resources. You should already be familiar with most, but the following checklist may be useful in jogging your memory. It is in no particular order.

User groups

These seem less popular than they once were, but they still exist. For system administrators, USENIX at http://www.usenix.org and SAGE at http://www.sage.org are two good places to start.

Mailing lists

There are thousands of these. Finding ones that are helpful can be painful. Be prepared to subscribe, lurk, and then unsubscribe to a number of different lists (or visit their archives). Follow a list for a while before you start posting to the list.

Newsgroups

Keep in mind that you may find an answer in related groups. Your Solaris problem may be answered in a Linux newsgroup posting. A quick search of Deja News can sometimes be helpful.

Vendor web sites

In networking and telecommunication, a vendor that doesn’t maintain ...