Network+ Certification (Outline) - Chapter 18: Network troubleshooting tools

This chapter includes contents: Documentation and resources, logs and indicators, network testing and monitoring tools, product documentation, CD-ROM documentation formats,...
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Network+ Certification (Outline) - Chapter 18: Network troubleshooting tools Chapter 18, Network Troubleshooting Tools|1| Chapter Overview A. Documentation and Resources B. Logs and Indicators C. Network Testing and Monitoring Tools Chapter 18, Lesson 1 Documentation and Resources 1. Introduction A. Many people who work with computers and networks do not read the documentation that comes with the products they use. B. To cut costs, most hardware and software manufacturers have greatly reduced the amount of printed documentation they include with products. C. To properly administer and troubleshoot a network, you must have information about the products you are using. 1. In many cases, you must turn to resources other than the product manufacturer to get information. 2. Many other sources of information are now available to the network administrator.|2| 2. Product Documentation A. Hardware and software products usually do not come with thick volumes of printed manuals as they used to, but documentation is usually included in some form. B. Even if you do not need to read the manual to install or configure the product, you should always keep all the documentation. 1. Although you may be very familiar with the devices or software products you use, you might still need the documentation some day. a. Example: suppose you need to install additional memory in all the computers on an existing network. (1) You might not know what type of memory modules you need, what combinations of modules the computers support, or how much memory they can use. (2) Suppose that the company that manufactured those computers no longer makes or supports the model you are using. (a) If you have kept the documentation, you can probably find the information you need. (b) If you do not have the documentation, you will have to determine by trial and error what memory configurations the computers can use, which could waste a lot of time and money.|3| C. CD-ROMs can contain documents in various formats, such as the following: 1. Text files a. Many manufacturers use plain ASCII text files to provide late- breaking information about product problems, revisions, and compatibility issues. b. The traditional name for this type of text file is README.1ST or something similar. c. Check the software distribution CD-ROMs that accompany the product for README text files or files with a .txt extension. d. To view text files, you can (1) Use a simple program like NOTEPAD.EXE (included with all current versions of Microsoft Windows) (2) Copy the files to a printer by typing a command such as copy readme.1st lpt1 at the MS-DOS command prompt 2. Hypertext Markup Language Files a. Some manufacturers create documentation in Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) format and include it with the product on a CD-ROM. b. Once you have pointed your browser to the home page file on the disk, viewing the documents on the CD-ROM is the same as viewing them on a Web site. c. Depending on how the HTML files are organized, searching them might or might not be possible. 3. Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format files a. Acrobat creates and displays documents in a proprietary format called the Portable Document Format (PDF), identified by the .pdf file extension. b. The .pdf files preserve all the original design elements, layout, and formatting characteristics of the original documents, including fonts and full-color illustrations.|4| (1) Acrobat Reader displays the documents in fully laid-out pages, just as they would appear when printed. c. A .pdf file is created by using a special printer driver supplied with Acrobat, which takes the document that was created in another application and compiles it into a single .pdf file. d. You can print a .pdf document to create a printed manual. e. Acrobat is an easy and attractive solution for manufacturers seeking to reduce their publishing costs. f. Despite being a proprietary format, .pdf has become a de facto publishing standard in the computing industry. g. To view a .pdf file, you must have Acrobat Reader, which is available free of charge from the Adobe Web site at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html. (1) Some Acrobat versions can support more than a dozen different hardware platforms. (2) Adobe allows third parties to include Acrobat Reader on their own CD-ROMs, so that if a product inc ...