Appendix C: System Incident Log: System Incident Log

If you are not tracking the various incidents online from a log file, intranet Web page, or through some other means, a record should always be kept and maintained for all incidents that take place on the various systems. If you don't maintain incident logs for workstations, you should make it mandatory for production servers.

This log should be posted on the system, alongside or above your documented procedures for each particular system. If something goes wrong, you will be at the system anyway. There is no reason to take 30 seconds to fill out the log sheet. The log sheet I have put together contains all the information a vendor would need to know when you place a call for services. This information needs to be filled in at the top of the sheet first. The top portion consists of vendor information and system information.

Vendor Information --If there is anything wrong with the maintenance service, the person on call has the ability to contact all the necessary information, such as the vendor maintenance representative, the phone number, and the contract number if you are supplied one.

System Information --When a call is placed to a vendor's hotline or response center, you need to supply them with all the necessary information that pertains to your system. The Incident sheet needs to have your system's model, the version of the software running on it, the unique HostID number, the serial number, and the contract number, if possible.

With these two sections filled out, you should never have a problem finding the information you need. When a problem arises, all you have to do is put in the date, a case ID if you opened one, and a brief description of the problem, how it was resolved, and the steps to make sure it won't happen again. Also include the amount of total down time. If nothing else, this information helps towards a position and merit increases. It is short and to the point. There is also a blank version that you can copy.

System Incident Log

Vendor: Sun Microsystems	Hotline: #800-USA-4SUN
Maintenance Rep: Steven Medino	Phone: #818-555-7786
Support Engineer: Ari Hardeen	Phone: #818-555-2376
	Pager: #800-SKY-Page x5551212

Model: Sun E3000	HostID #: 5550444
Version: Solaris 2.6	Serial #: 736F0222
Hostname: mars	Contract #: 35745555

	Case			Down
Date	ID	Description	Resolution	Time

12/14/98	#0798432	Raid controller Dead	Use hot spare	0 min

1/4/98		system reboot on parity error	Only happened once will monitor	5 Min

On the following page is a blank incident log that you can photocopy and use on your systems.

Appendix C System Incident Log

System Incident Log

Appendix C
System Incident Log