Documentation and preparing reports for networks

[ajay kondapalli]

Hi,

Can any one explain me , How do we make documentation and preparing reports by using monitoring tools like nagios.

Generally by looking at monitoring tool screens, how do we prepare WAN link utilisation reports.

What are the common fields people follow mostly ?

Can any one share me a sample template on reports and standard documentation followed  for network activities ?

Thanks,

Ajay

[vmiller]

I can't speak to the particular product set, there are some very general guidelines you might consider.

1. Who is your audience? Whatever you produce has to be relevant to them.

2. General topics to build upon:

     1. WAN utilization, what are your top 5 links for utilization? what are the bottom 5?

     2. data center services, what servers/switch ports see the most traffic?

     3. 30 day trends for the above 2.

     You might also start looking at any potential error situations (bit errors on wan links, crc's on lan links)

A lot of what you can report on is relative to the environment. Look for the ability to export data from your tool into a format that can be used by a desktop application (excel, access....) then figure out a way to automate it.