Defining the Scope of Your Problem

Before you begin troubleshooting a problem, you must first define the scope of your problem. When defining the scope , you need to identify what is working and what is not working. Sometimes it is useful to identify another machine that is working as you expect. Comparing the server that is experiencing a problem with a server that is working correctly simplifies troubleshooting and can help you arrive at a solution more quickly.

For example, you are checking email at work and are suddenly unable to read or write new email. If you can not resolve the problem quickly, you might go to a colleague and see if they are experiencing the same problem. If your colleague is experiencing the same problem, you feel relieved and decide that the problem is a bigger network issue. If your colleague says no, email is working as expected, you might look at your colleague's proxy settings and see if yours are configured the same.

You can help define the scope of your problem by asking questions about what is working and what isn't working, such as the following:

• On which servers is the problem being observed?

• On which servers is the problem not being observed?

• For which types of operations is the problem occurring?

• For which types of operations is the problem not occurring?

• On the failing server, which plug-ins or components are experiencing the problem? For example, replicated updates, local updates, UID uniqueness, ACIs, roles, CoS, password policy, or all of the above.

• On the failing server, which plug-ins or components are not experiencing the problem?

• Is the problem permanent or transient?

• Where could the problem be permanent or transient, but is not?

• Is the problem still growing, decreasing or stable?

• Where could the problem be growing but is not?

On each of the servers where the problem is observed, determine the first time the problem was observed, including the date and time. Identify any changes that were made to your system immediately before this date, such as changes to the configuration, upgrades, and installations.