RE: Need examples of system documentation

["Daniel Ng" <kjng -at- gprotechnologies -dot- com>]

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The book has been updated ..get the newer 2nd edition (updated 2007)

http://www.amazon.com/Practice-System-Network-Administration-2nd/dp/03214926
68/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222668987&sr=1-1
This is the one..The new one is more contemporary with updates for hiring,
and about using wikis.. 

-----Original Message-----
From: Janice Gelb [mailto:Janice -dot- Gelb -at- Sun -dot- COM] 
Sent: Sunday, September 28, 2008 6:12 PM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Re: Need examples of system documentation

deltaskye wrote:
> I am returning to IT system tech writing after an absence of four years.
My client wants me to document a system that is already in place; the
engineer who designed it did not write anything down! 
> 
> I will be working with a new engineer to try to document the system (not
for end-users, for the company's internal/engineering use). The engineer
will be the technical SME and I will be the scribe and desktop publisher.
The system is used by staff to register new customers for a service,
document customer service calls, and transmit each day's activities to
another system.
> 
> The engineer has asked me to provide him some examples of what the
documentation might look like. I have all kinds of stuff generated when
other customers followed an organized SDLC as they were designing a system.
I'm looking for ideas on how to frame the documentation as the engineer and
I try to document a system that someone else designed (and who is no longer
available).
> 
> I don't know if the following is helpful, but here are some of the topics
the engineer has suggested:
> 
> External data interfaces
> Oracle database management system
> BEA configuration
> System backup/restore
> 

Funny you should ask... I've been combing the web lately for system
administration documentation for a paper I'm giving at the Usenix LISA
conference (called "WTFM: Documentation and the System Administrator").
It's the most nervous I've ever been about presenting at a conference
because my audience won't be tech writers and I haven't actually worked in a
sys admin environment.
(If anyone has examples of bad internal sys admin docs.
please let me know - I promise to remove all company identification :-> )

But enough about me. Try searching for:

system administrator internal documentation documentation system
documentation server

I've also found that http://techrepublic.com is a great source of
information. I'm not sure how useful it will be, but they link to a set of
templates for some aspects of system administration docs at
http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-5027838.html?tag=rbxccnbt
r1

Best of luck!

-- Janice

***********************************************************
Janice Gelb          | The only connection Sun has with
janice -dot- gelb -at- sun -dot- com  | this message is the return address



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