Guy's Best Practice & Litmus Test Ezine

Guy recommends :
Free - WMI Monitor

---

Guy's Review of
Computer Utilities

1) FreePing
2) LanSurveyor
3) Xobni
4) PuTTY (UNIX)
5) WMI Monitor
6) BgInfo
7) Net-SNMP
8) Engineer's Toolset
9) DNS Stuff
10) WinDiff

---

Short computer jokes

Guy's Best Practice Ezine & Litmus Test

Each fortnight I will send you tips for your Windows Server or Vista / Windows 7 workstation. To get an idea what to expect, check out the list on your navigation menu to the left.  Each week the Ezine will contain tips on one of the following, Windows Server 2008 / 2003, Windows 7, Vista, Exchange, Networking, Security or Disaster Recovery.

The ezine is published fortnightly on a Wednesday.

Sign up now and receive a free ebook - Best Practice and Litmus Tests by email.

Guy's Litmus Test Ezine - The Idea

Guy's Litmus test is a concept that you can apply literally anywhere.  Each test gives you an instant answer to the basic question: - 'Are you dealing with a professional, or is an amateur?'.  Is this the real deal, or is it a turkey?   The Litmus Test concept is rather like Best Practice, but it reduces a 27 page report to one sentence.

Whilst my tests are designed for computer networks, you can develop the concept and apply it to where ever you go.  Guy's 'Litmus tests' asks one question, and the answer tells you instantly if you're dealing with amateurs or professionals.  More than anything, I see Litmus tests as an ideal way to combine business with fun.  Don't we all work just that better when the job has an amusing twist.  What would make my day is if you apply the idea of a simple test to your network best practices.

Where the idea came from

Each Litmus test gives you an instant answer to the question: - "Is this a good idea or is there a better way?"  The brainwave for Litmus tests came to me when a delegate said: "Guy, I have just joined a company; how do I know if our network and servers are running properly?"  So I suggested simple checks that he could make to test if his network was run by amateurs or professionals.

Flash back

As I was wondering what title to give the check list, my mind flashed back to my schoolboy days.  Suddenly I remembered my chemistry teacher 'Sniffy' Pugh showing us Litmus tests.  Perhaps you remember the test?  What happens is you dip Litmus paper into a liquid, if the paper turns red it means acid, whereas if it turns blue the liquid is alkaline.  It struck me that Litmus test was the ideal name for a quick test where there are only two possible results, one good the other bad. 

 *

As an MCT trainer, I can thoroughly recommend TrainSignal, I particularly liked their practical hands on training.  To make learning enjoyable, TrainSignal vary the methods with, instructor lead, video and of course text material.  See more about the training materials here