Red Hat ENTERPRISE LINUX 3 - INTRODUCTION TO SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION Administration Manual page 171

Chapter 8. Planning for Disaster
8.1.4.1. End-User Errors
The users of a computer can make mistakes that can have serious impact. However, due to their
normally unprivileged operating environment, user errors tend to be localized in nature. Because most
users interact with a computer exclusively through one or more applications, it is within applications
that most end-user errors occur.
8.1.4.1.1. Improper Use of Applications
When applications are used improperly, various problems can occur:
Files inadvertently overwritten
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Wrong data used as input to an application
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Files not clearly named and organized
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Files accidentally deleted
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The list could go on, but this is enough to illustrate the point. Due to users not having super-user
privileges, the mistakes they make are usually limited to their own files. As such, the best approach is
two-pronged:
Educate users in the proper use of their applications and in proper file management techniques
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Make sure backups of users' files are made regularly and that the restoration process is as stream-
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lined and quick as possible
Beyond this, there is little that can be done to keep user errors to a minimum.
8.1.4.2. Operations Personnel Errors
Operators have a more in-depth relationship with an organization's computers than end-users. Where
end-user errors tend to be application-oriented, operators tend to perform a wider range of tasks.
Although the nature of the tasks have been dictated by others, some of these tasks can include the use
of system-level utilities, where the potential for widespread damage due to errors is greater. Therefore,
the types of errors that an operator might make center on the operator's ability to follow the procedures
that have been developed for the operator's use.
8.1.4.2.1. Failure to Follow Procedures
Operators should have sets of procedures documented and available for nearly every action they per-
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form . It might be that an operator does not follow the procedures as they are laid out. There can be
several reasons for this:
The environment was changed at some time in the past, and the procedures were never updated.
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Now the environment changes again, rendering the operator's memorized procedure invalid. At this
point, even if the procedures were updated (which is unlikely, given the fact that they were not
updated before) the operator will not be aware of it.
The environment was changed, and no procedures exist. This is just a more out-of-control version
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of the previous situation.
3. If the operators at your organization do not have a set of operating procedures, work with them, your man-
agement, and your users to get them created. Without them, a data center is out of control and likely to experience
severe problems in the course of day-to-day operations.
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