Every skillset has it’s tools. These are the basics of the vocation, and it’s tough to do your job without them. I have my own for load balancing, and they’re not what people typically expect. I’ve mentioned the somewhat unorthodox troubleshooting tools that I use on here before, and now I’ve taken the step of codifying them into a Wiki page.
LBWiki: Troubleshooting Tools
Telnet, OpenSSL, and an HTTP analyzer. Probably 90% of all the issues I come up against can be solved using those.  Probably 60% of all the problems can be solved by just telnet (used to test Layer 4 and sometimes through Layer 7).
