08-17-10 | Blog Post
A new series from Online Tech, “Chronicles of a Techie,” aims to show common problems facing IT technicians and how to solve them. This first edition focuses on firewall documentation.
Techie A runs up to Techie B “Hey Techie A, our Boss Mr. Smith is upset. He just found out we have FTP opened up from anywhere to our Server and wants to know why. Do you have any idea?”
Techie B thinks about it for a minute. “I didn’t tell anyone to open up that port. You know what? We have Online Tech manage our firewall. I bet they know.”
Techie A runs off to his cubicle and called 734-213-2020 and hits option 3. The phone only rings once before he hears someone answer.
OT Engineer A “Hello, Online Tech support how may we help you.”
Techie A “Hi, this is Techie A from Acme Corp. I just found out we have a firewall rule for FTP opened up from anywhere to our Server A. Do you know why?”
OT Engineer A “Give me one moment to look over your tickets.”
Techie A hears some typing over the phone, click click.
OT Engineer A “Ahhhh, I see Mr. Smith opened up a ticket on 5/27/2010 asking for FTP opened up from anywhere to Server A. He said he would open a ticket up to close down that port as soon as testing was completed. Would you like me to make a ticket to have that port closed for you?”
Techie A “Please, my secret code is ****” twenty minutes later he receives an email from OT Engineer B “Thank you for using Online Tech, your firewall rule request has been completed. Thanks OT Engineer B.
At Online Tech we document every change request that is made on a shared firewall or a managed firewall. We document who opened the ticket, when it was done and the exact commands we put into the network device to complete the request. All of these tickets are available to you to review when you log into https://portal.otava.com or call support at 734.213.2020 ext 3.
