Best Practices

Another tool that a systems administrator has at their disposal to set standards for the use of technology is a concept know as Best Practices.

What are Best Practices?

Best practices in technology are methods and techniques for implementing processes and procedures that have been proven effective through the experiences of others.  In some cases a manufacturer or vendor may establish best practices for implementation of their product or service. Third party vendors or consultants may provide guidelines for the installation and maintenance of a product or service based on the experiences of a large customer base. Professional organizations may publish some type of best practices guidelines based on the collective experiences of its members.

In most cases best practices are scalable based on various facets of a given situation.  Any number of variables could change the meaning of best practices for a scenario. Things like speed of network, number of nodes, number of users, physical layout of the network, are just a few examples of factors influencing what goes into determining best practices in a given situation.  Be aware of what factors were used in defining a scenario before using it for your own situation.

Best practices are a starting point, they are not meant to be hard and fast rules.  If you have never done something before, or are relatively new to a process, best practices give you a scenario to get you started.  A good starting point is not always the best stopping point. Because technology is forever evolving, so are best practices.

Why use Best Practices?

When I was teaching the question was often asked, what if I don't do it that way? (As in the way I had recommended in class.)  At this point in time I would digress a bit to explain the game of Russian Roulette, a game of chance in which a single bullet is placed in one chamber of a revolver, you then spin the cylinder, place the muzzle to your head and pull the trigger.

To make the analogy a tad bit less graphic and gruesome, I would change the rules a bit, and ask the person the question in terms of pointing the gun at their foot. If I put one bullet in a revolver that contained six chambers, and then spun the revolver and pointed it at your foot, and said I'm going to pull the trigger now.  How would you feel?

Now, if I told you I have a method that removes the bullet from the chamber, so the gun is not loaded, would you feel better?

The point of the story is many times we shoot ourselves in the foot in technology by doing something that is not the best practices way of doing it.  Some people are just plain lucky, they always ignore best practices, and never seem to shot themselves in the foot.  Other folks always seem to be shooting themselves in the foot, and wondering what has happened.

Take the bullets out of the gun, do it the best practices way.  It may not always be the quickest, easiest, or cheapest way to accomplish the mission at hand, but are you prepared to shoot yourself in the foot?