Good principles for sysadmins and solution architects
Solaris™ Administration Best Practices by Peter Baer Galvin is an old gem. Here's the list:
- Keep an Eye Peeled and a Wall at Your Back
- Communicate with Users
- Help Users Fix It Themselves
- Use Available Information
- Know When to Use Strategy and When to Use Tactics
- All Projects Take Twice as Long as They Should
- It’s Not Done Until It’s Tested
- It’s Not Done Until It’s Documented
- Never Change Anything on Fridays
- Audit Before Edit
- Use Defaults Whenever Possible
- Always Be Able to Undo What You Are About to Do
- Do Not Spoil Management
- If You Haven’t Seen It Work, It Probably Doesn’t
- If You’re Fighting Fires, Find the Sources
- If You Don’t Understand It, Don’t Play with It on Production Systems
- If It Can Be Accidentally Used, and Can Produce Bad Consequences, Protect It
- Ockham’s Razor Is Very Sharp Indeed
- The Last Change Is the Most Suspicious
- When in Doubt, Reboot
- If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It
- Save Early and Often
- Dedicate a System Disk
- Have a Plan
- Cables and Connectors Can Go Bad
- Mind the Power
- Try Before You Buy
- Don’t Panic and Have Fun
It so happens, the practices can be equally applied to Windows system administration and creating solution architectures, including security solutions.
I don't agree with one of the pearls of wisdom included in the writeup - this one:
The question you ask as a sys admin is not “Are you paranoid?”; it’s “Are you paranoid enough?”
Last time I checked paranoia was some sort of mental illness. Being paranoid isn't good for you. Paranoia results in malformed perception largely replacing reality in someone's mind.
And I'd add another rule: Always question "Best Practices".