The Real World Network Troubleshooting Manual: Tools, Techniques, and Scenarios (Administrator's Advantage Series) [Paperback]

Alan Sugano (Author)

Book Description

Series: Administrator's Advantage Series | Publication Date: September 2004

Troubleshooting can account for up to 90 percent of a network administrator's job, so effective troubleshooting skills will help administrators respond quickly in a crisis situation, and keep their networks running smoothly. It can be a quantum leap from network administrator to troubleshooting guru, but knowing how to implement the right technique at the right time can help administrators take their skills to the next level. The Real- World Network Troubleshooting Manual focuses on the methodology and process of network troubleshooting, and how to apply them in real-life situations. Designed to make any network administrator a troubleshooting expert, the book starts with an overview of some readily available, basic troubleshooting tools. From there, multiple real-world troubleshooting scenarios are covered, from basic problems to more advanced, including what to do if a workstation is unable to surf the Internet, wireless users cannot connect to the network, or a hacker attacks the Web site. Although the primary focus is on the Windows workstation and server environment, many of the troubleshooting scenarios are non-operating system specific and can be applied to any computing environment.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Alan Sugano (Ranch Palos Verdes, CA) is the president of ADS Consulting Group Inc., specializing in networking, custom programming, Web development, SQI, server development, and ACCPAC Plus accounting implementations. He has spoken at various industry conferences and writes regularly for Windows & NET Magazine.

Product Details

• Paperback: 396 pages
• Publisher: Charles River Media; 1 edition (September 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584503483
• ISBN-13: 978-1584503484
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #527,788 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not just about network troubleshooting, May 14, 2005

By 

Secrets & Lies (Melbourne, VIC, AU) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Real World Network Troubleshooting Manual: Tools, Techniques, and Scenarios (Administrator's Advantage Series) (Paperback)

I just received this book from Amazon and was somewhat surprised by its contents.

For the first: this book spends quite a few of its pages to discuss scenarios not *directly* related to network troubleshooting.

For the second, many of the scenarios describe a problem that is specific to a particular vendor. I would have preferred content that was usable for networking issues regardless of vendor.

For the third, the problem scenarios or the solution descriptions may not bring anything new to your personal solution arsenal (unless you have very little experience in this field).

For the fourth, the book comes with a CD containing tools from SysInternals (such as Autoruns, Filemon, etc). Besides the fact that these tools can be freely downloaded from SysInternals web site, maybe more annoying is that the book provides no scenarios or advise on using these tools to troubleshoot problems. On the other hand, as an example, chapter 4 uses over 7 pages to list the Windows Recovery Console commands; the list seems to contain the same information that can be obtained using the HELP command inside the Recovery Console.

Some examples of the scenarios:

Chapter 3 (pages 45-91) deals with workstation troubleshooting. Example scenario:
- Problem Scenario "12" on page 88 (User is unable to install NAV Corporate Edition on a workstation): This scenario discusses the problem as occurring on a Windows 2000 with SP4. The solution: re-apply SP 4.

Chapter 4 (pages 93-158) deals with Windows Server troubleshooting; tools described in this chapter are the Windows Performance Monitor and Recovery Console.
Example scenarios:
- Problem Scenario "1" on page 134 (Data faction server does not boot): Discusses how a particular case of a server not booting was resolved. Solution: replace the power supply switch.

- Problem Scenario "3" on page 142 (Inaccessible boot device error stop 0000007B): Discusses how to troubleshoot a server displaying a blue screen with the "Inaccessible boot device ..." message at start. The described temporary solution: run ChkDsk. A more permanent solution: replace the hard drive.

Chapter 5 discusses SQL Server (pages 159-182) troubleshooting. Example scenario:
- Problem Scenario "2" on page 176 (Poor performance on SQL Server): Discusses what to do when SQL Server takes unusually long to return query results. In this case a large amount of data had been uploaded to the SQL Server just before the problems started. The solution: to run the command "Update Statistics <table_name>"

Actually I am curious as to why the book was named "The Real-world Network Troubleshooting Manual: Tools, Techniques, and Scenarios"? Marketing reasons? A better name would have been something like "The Real-world Generic Troubleshooting Reference with Basic Tools, Techniques, and Scenarios".

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Misleading title, November 28, 2006

By 

Abeto Omeo (A very wet place, Northwestern Spain) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Real World Network Troubleshooting Manual: Tools, Techniques, and Scenarios (Administrator's Advantage Series) (Paperback)

I couldn't agree more with Jarmo.

I would rename this book: "Things that may happen to you while running Microsoft Windows and certain applications on a networked environment"

Subtitle: "(not a Networking book)"

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the better books of this genre, December 27, 2004

By 

Harold McFarland (Florida) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Real World Network Troubleshooting Manual: Tools, Techniques, and Scenarios (Administrator's Advantage Series) (Paperback)

This is one of the very few computer troubleshooting books I have read that actually delivers on its promise as a real-world manual. The very first chapter set this book apart from most others by the excellent writing style and clear explanations. This first section covers the basics from how to approach the problem to the steps to take to isolate it and the methodology for approaching a workable solution. These are the specific methods and techniques that so many computer consulting companies use and wish they could find employees who know how to follow it. Although it is a Windows centric book this part on troubleshooting methodology applies to all operating systems and software.

After the overview of how to troubleshoot a problem, the book goes into specific scenarios with both examples and cookbooks on how to resolve the problem. Areas that get their own chapter include network printing, workstation troubleshooting, server troubleshooting, SQL Server troubleshooting, Exchange Server troubleshooting, wide area networks and IP Routing, wireless networking, firewall troubleshooting, and virtual private networking troubleshooting.

This book provides specific tools, specific techniques, and details on how to interpret the results. When a printer prints garbage, when servers disappear from the network neighborhood, when shared network resources suddenly disappear, you will want to pick this book up first. The Real-World Network Troubleshooting Manual is very highly recommended.