The skill and experience of the server administrators and operators is a big factor in getting a failed computer back on line with minimal cost and disruption to your company's business. You must have support personnel who are trained in troubleshooting problems and determining what recovery procedures to use when they have found the cause of a problem.
A high level of skill can only be maintained through practice.
In preparing a training plan for server operators, you should start by imagining some typical scenarios. For example, does each operator know the steps to take to restart the computer when the original disk of a mirror set fails and the disk contains the operating system? Your plan should cover the following items:
Effective training must start with the basics. Server administrators and operators should have a good understanding of Windows NT Server. The Microsoft Certified Professional Program is a good starting point.
Understanding operating system fundamentals is only the beginning. Fast, efficient recovery from crashes of a computer running Windows NT Server can only be achieved through practice, which can be done by scheduling drills that simulate a crashed computer or a disk failure. These drills should be done several times a year.
Computers that have recently been taken out of service, or are being prepared for production service, can be used for training. You can also buy and configure computers to use specifically for testing and training. Training sessions and drills are a good time to update recovery procedures, which you should document.
You should also test your disaster plan. See Chapter 4, "Planning a Reliable Configuration," for information about disaster planning.