howdy TC,
>> Is there any good source of
>> information out there for people who need to diagnose network
>> problems? Any good books?
>>
there are tons of them. i'd recommend starting with O'Reilly's TCP/IP
Network Administration. continuously revised since the stone ages, it's
the UNIX foundation you need to truly understand, not just be a M$
monkey. i can tell you what chapters to read and what to ignore if you
supply me with an updated table of contents.
>> I work for a large corporation,
sorry bro.
>> I have found
>> that my website is inaccessible from our local office (I receive the
>> error "Cannot find server or DNS Error"), but is accessible to the
>> world at large.
OK, so your problem is where? in the local office.
>> I'm hoping to find a procedure which will
>> tell me how to pinpoint the problem
it's a bit like asking us to teach you karate in one easy session, but
what you have to quickly do is isolate the level the problem exists at.
you need certain information about the environments you are treating
first like gateway addresses, DNS addresses, POP, SMTP, it doesn't hurt
to have a spreadsheet of IP-MAC-Cname addresses on your networks.
but anyway, let's start with the problem computer/user. Can they surf?
No? Do the rest of the services work? Can they email? No? What happens
when they ping a well-known address like Sony.com. Does it resolve to a
numerical IP? No? Host not found? DNS is down. Can their neighbor surf?
If so, their computer has the problem.
Now you have to be ready to diagnose local IP settings. Windows machines
will defult to the 192.168.x.x convention with a plain-Jane netmask of
255.255.x.x if it doesn't find a DHCP server (if configured to pull
DHCP), a dead givaway. there are other things such as hosts files but
let's stay simple here.
Neighbor can't surf either? OK, can they ping their inside gateway or
the machine next to them? No? Tell them to make sure the hub is plugged
in. They can ping the machine next to them but not the gateway inside
address? Gee, the problem is at the gateway/router level. Can you ping
their gateway outside address? No? Can you ping their ISP? Start with
the ISP and work back towards the gateway or vice-versa. it's process of
elimanation, common sense once you have the basic tools. now having
identified the device or service, how to treat it's going to take a lot
more books for you to read.
assuming you are treating Window$ machines, start->run->cmd is your
basic tool. ipconfig, ping, tracert are your three basic commands.
Window$ keeps renaming them so your distribution is practically
gauranteed to call them something different, but any Window$ machine
well give you command help with the /? switch.
>> (or, failing that, a good
>> consultant).
it's tough to compress things into some paragraphs, but hopefully i gave
you the idea. i can sniff out network issues like a bloodhound. i enjoy
it. i know what those 3:00 AM panic calls are like. i also know what
it's like to have an overworked IT staff who care.
salesATdatasphericDOTcom.
>> Stay informed about: Learning to Diagnose Network Problems? 
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