Troubleshooting Methods and Procedures

At some point in your networking career, you will be called on to troubleshoot network-related problems. Correctly and swiftly identifying these problems is not done by accident; rather, effective troubleshooting requires attention to some specific steps and procedures. Although some organizations have documented troubleshooting procedures for their IT staff members, many do not. Whether you use these exact steps in your job is debatable, but the general principles remain the same. The Network objectives list the troubleshooting steps as follows:

Step 1. Information gathering-identify symptoms and problems.
Step 2. Identify the affected areas of the network.
Step 3. Determine if anything has changed.
Step 4. Establish the most probable cause.
Step 5. Determine if escalation is necessary.
Step 6. Create an action plan and solution identifying potential effects.
Step 7. Implement and test the solution.
Step 8. Identify the results and effects of the solution.
Step 9. Document the solution and the entire process.

The following upcoming sections examine each area of the troubleshooting process.