Write the seven-field asset record and the one-page network document

short · 40 min · Objective 4.1

Task

Produce the two documents that survive: a minimal asset register that is right, and a one-page logical network document that will still be true next month. Both are deliberately smaller than people first attempt, because seven fields that are maintained beat thirty that are plausible.

Steps

  1. Write lab/docs/assets.csv with header tag,model,serial,user,location,purchased,status for every computer, phone, tablet and network device you own or are inventorying.
  2. Write lab/docs/network.md as a one-page logical document: what is connected to what, which subnets exist, where the internet connection and the firewall are. Date it and put a name on it.
  3. Write lab/docs/addressing.csv with header subnet,purpose,dhcp_range,reserved_address,belongs_to covering every fixed address on your network.
  4. Write one knowledge base article at lab/docs/kb.md for a fault you have actually fixed, with a searchable title, the symptom first, numbered steps with exact values, a verification step and a what-if-it-does-not-work section.
  5. Write lab/docs/policy-vs-procedure.md giving one policy you are subject to, one procedure that implements it, and the difference between changing each.

Verify

awk -F, 'NR>1 && NF>=7 {n++} END {print n" asset(s)"}' lab/docs/assets.csv
awk -F, 'NR>1 && $4=="" {n++} END {print n" asset(s) with no holder"}' lab/docs/assets.csv
grep -Eic '20[0-9][0-9]' lab/docs/network.md
awk -F, 'NR>1 && NF>=5 {n++} END {print n" address reservation(s)"}' lab/docs/addressing.csv
grep -Ec '^[0-9]+\.' lab/docs/kb.md
grep -Eic 'verif|confirm|check that' lab/docs/kb.md
grep -Eic 'approval|authority|what and why|how' lab/docs/policy-vs-procedure.md

Every asset with all seven fields, a dated network document, numbered steps in the article and a verification step in it. An article with no verification step is an article whose reader cannot tell whether it worked.

Notes

The date on the network document is not decoration. A reader who knows a document is two years old can judge it; a reader with no date will either trust it or ignore it, and both are worse.

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