A-BITS HOMEPAGE - Troubleshoot IT Challenge

UPCOMING: America's Innovate IT Collegiate Conference

TROUBLESHOOT IT CHALLENGE

The Troubleshoot IT Challenge is a two-part individual competition. The initial round is a quiz-based, time-limited competition. The second round is a hands-on, time-limited competition that tests participants’ knowledge of best troubleshooting processes and procedures. Individuals who complete the first round and are a part of the top 10 will advance to the second round. Individuals in the second round will be given access to virtual machines and will be expected to troubleshoot and solve presented issues in the given timeframe.

The challenge focuses on known best practices as well as typical issues found within the enterprise computing environments found in most businesses. These issues include networking, host configuration, firewalls, DNS, DHCP, registry configuration, group policy, user management, file system management, program/service failures, and multi-layer issues. The competition is designed to challenge not only rote memorization but also general reasoning and troubleshooting skills. It is designed to allow students with strong skills in these areas to distinguish themselves through accuracy, depth of understanding, and presented solutions.

Skills and Resources

Participants are expected to arrive with prior coursework or experience in general troubleshooting and PC configuration skills. The competition assumes familiarity with the following areas:

Windows system administration, both PC and Server based editions.

General networking skills and knowledge relating to common network functionality (DNS, DHCP, HTTP/HTTPS).

Linux system administration, both with Desktop and Server editions.

General/known issues within these operating systems.

Web based remote access solutions.

Basic understanding of a hypervisor/VM management platform.

Common solutions to well-known problems.

General troubleshooting best practices.

Individuals must bring their own computers for connection to the competition environment. Both rounds of the competition will be network administered and require use of a browser for both. Common browsers are generally supported (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Chromium)

Individuals must be able to utilize web-based applications for both rounds of the competition.

Teams may utilize basic internet research ability using limited competition networks. External network access from within the competition VMs is not allowed.

All required problem descriptions, fixes, and solutions can be accomplished without public internet access.

Individuals

Solo entries are required. All individuals may not collaborate with others.

Protocol

The challenge is split into two parts, each focusing on a different element of troubleshooting knowledge. The first part is dedicated to rote knowledge and memorization of troubleshooting best practices and techniques. The second part is focused on general troubleshooting abilities as well as knowledge of fixes for well-known issues.

Submissions for the first part are evaluated based on correct answers provided during the quiz. Second part submissions are evaluated by manual grading to ensure accuracy and completeness. Individuals are expected to also provide short explanations as to their fixes. Because this is a ranked competition, evaluation is conducted progressively, and later questions are weighted greater on higher troubleshooting skills and deeper knowledge.

In cases where final placements are affected by scoring ties, judges apply additional evaluation criteria based on quality, coherence of solution, as well as adherence to best practices. Final results include the top three individuals, with honorable mentions awarded at the judges’ discretion. Intermediate scores and feedback are not reported.

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