diagram that shows your LAN and the name of the major servers, and then draw a big cloud that represents all your desktop/laptop hosts. At one job, I found that I repeatedly needed to draw a particular network diagram on a nearby whiteboard to illustrate my point. (The diagram was four dots representing our four sites, the five WAN links that connected them, and an arrow to a cloud representing the Internet connection.) Adding this simple, easy-to-reproduce diagram to the repository was a quick way to get started. In 10 minutes, you should be able to create your first diagram and put it online.
True hot-blooded system administrators probably insist on Visio with photorealistic server icons and accurate-to-the-millipica placements, but that is a rat hole. Ever start drawing a diagram and suddenly realize you've spent the entire day getting it just right? There's no cheese down that hole. Spend 10 minutes, not 10 hours. I actually prefer to use tools that don't let me do supremely detailed and perfect work so that I'm forced to get the essence of what the diagram should look like and not futz with the details. I often do diagrams with PowerPoint and store the original and PDF copy in the repository.
If you really can't control the desire to draw the perfect diagram, sketch it out on a whiteboard and take a picture with a cheap digital camera; store the picture in the repository. It's fast and it works really well. (If someone complains that they should be redrawn in a more serious drawing package, make sure he has write access to the repository and tell him, 'I look forward to your results.')
Also document the important data flows in the company: how does email get in and out of the company, where are your directory servers, and so on.
Wiki Technology
To make a web site (repository) full of pages that are easy to update, use a Wiki. A
Tip
I ignored Wikis because I thought the name was stupid. I thought, 'I could never use a system with a goofy name like that, even if it turned lead into gold.' I didn't even investigate to find out what a Wiki was. Three years later, I started using a Wiki that someone else had installed and found it extremely helpful to my productivity. Oh, how I regret ignoring Wikis for so long.
So what the heck is a Wiki?
It is a web site in which anyone can edit any page, and linking pages is really easy.
Sounds crazy, right? I mean, if anyone can edit any page, what about vandalism? Someone could come along and delete things, put incorrect information into the system, and so on. It would be a disaster!
I promise you that there are some features that completely eliminate these problems. First, let's just consider the positive side:
It's easy to add new pages. New pages can be added by anyone. If a junior admin is the first to deal with a new vendor, he can add a page for the vendor and start listing contact information and so on.
Wikis are centralized and accessible. Anyone with a web browser can access them (allowing for any access controls in place). No special software is required on the client.
Everyone can contribute. Anyone can edit any page when she sees a typo or has information to add. A document might start as a small checklist, then items are added by someone else, and someone else turns it into a full-blown process document.
Wiki pages stay up-to-date. When anyone can edit any page, you've solved one of the biggest problems with documentation, which is that documents often become out-of-date the moment they are published. Instead, a Wiki is a set of pages that can be updated immediately by the person who spots the dated material.
The problem with document repositories is that there is usually a high barrier to use them. Users have to request an account, be given permission and access, etc.
Wiki Notation and Page Linking
A Wiki lowers the barrier for all of those issues. You don't have to be specially trained to know how to use one—lessons in HTML are not required. You don't need an account to read documents. If you
