- Set expectations for customers that network unavailability will happen and when it will happen.
- Give regular status updates at certain times during the window of downtime.
- “Home Assistant is back up” for example.
- Set a time window for the client and stick to it.
- Regardless of the situation, if you don’t complete it within a certain time, pull the ripcord and rollback the changes.
- What is your rollback plan.
- Know ahead of time what you are going to test and have multiple test cases.
- Laptop can connect, but desktop is not able to connect to the network for example.
- Be prepared for any aftermath.
- Changes cause unanticipated problems down the line.
- Set aside time for the “oops” moments.
- Communication path only with stakeholders, to avoid other parties blaming the changes made.
- Check firewall rules after the network changes are made.
- Firewalls very quickly see the new changes and can tell if changing from a /24 to a /21 IP scheme.