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Good Practices 1

Decided to write about a few practices I try to follow to be more efficient in the "IT realm"


  1. Use RDP Manager or Netop or whatever your remoting solution is to build a "directory" for your servers and back it up. Establish a hierarchy like this \\\ (Eg: NA\PROD\ECOM\firmweb1)
  2. Use a good folder structure to keep your project files, start a folder for each project. Use sub-folders for details on a particular part of project when too many files accumulate. Keep this folder close to root (C:\) back it up often
  3. Use SyncToy or any cloud solution to automate your backup. You will always skip manual backup. Use a batch (if you need control) file and schedule it periodically and make it email you
  4. If you produce Excel reports from SQL dumps, create a tab called query and paste your long complex SQL query into it.
  5. Learn Windows, Excel, Gmail shortcuts!! 
  6. Maintain an "Installer" folder and break it down to OS, Development Tools, Databases, Application Servers etc... never download a 4GB file twice
  7. DRY - Do not Repeat Yourself: establish good documentation practices and keep your solutions organized. Use snippet functions in IDEs (back them up regularly). Spend time to build your library and never write a SQL updater from scratch again.

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