Flying on autopilot for 2 years

[JoyMagnolia]

Hello, Meraki Community!

I am a new IT admin at a school, and I'm learning Meraki on the job. I have a database management background, but networking is pretty new to me. The school hasn't had an IT department in several years, and I doubt any kind of manual firmware updates have happened during that time, or any other manual processes that are needed to keep a network running in top shape.

I am going through the Meraki basics course, but wanted to ask if there are any key tasks that I should be aware of as I take over managing this network. 

What would you do if you had just taken over a Meraki network with 31 APs, 18 switches, and an unknown number of other devices?

Glad to be here! 
Thanks,  

Joy R. 

[BlakeRichardson]

I would start by mapping out the network i.e. physically but also logically. What VLANS you have and how everything routes. 

If it's a layer 3 network I would have a look at Inter-LAN firewall rules and make sure they are needed and remove any unused rules working with least privilege principle. Also check your WAN>LAN and LAN>WAN rules to make sure they are nice and secure. 

[KathleenJ]

Hi Joy,

First off congratuations on the new job! Meraki support is fantastic when you have questions that you can't find answers for. There is a question mark in the upper right hand corner of your dashboard that you can click on when you need assistance.

Next I would suggest buying the book "Cisco Meraki Fundamentals" by Cisco Press.

Finally, this is a fantastic community and questions are generally answered pretty rapidly.

Kathleen

[DarrenOC]

Following on from @BlakeRichardson @I’d be looking at the following 

- Physical and logical topology 

- licensing - when’s my renewal date

- firmware upgrades

Those will do for now but there are a ton of others to run through.

[GreenMan]

Good suggestions from others previously...

Add 'lifecycle status for my Meraki devices -    hardware End of Sale / Life,   installed firmware and any firmware restrictions

https://documentation.meraki.com/General_Administration/Other_Topics/Meraki_End-of-Life_(EOL)_Produc...

https://documentation.meraki.com/General_Administration/Firmware_Upgrades/Managing_Firmware_Upgrades

https://documentation.meraki.com/General_Administration/Firmware_Upgrades/Product_Firmware_Version_R...

[JoyMagnolia]

Thank you all so much! I appreciate your suggestions and feel like I have a good idea now of what to look for and where. I'm loving Meraki's support documentation and tutorial videos. 

Thanks!