Server
Windows NT has peer-networking capabilities, meaning that it can act both as a network client and as a server to other network users. To manage features and view statistics related to the server aspects of your Windows NT 4.0 system, you can use the Control Panel’s Server applet (shown in Figure 5.50).
The applet’s main window shows several statistics related to current server resources and usages, as described below.
Sessions: Shows the total number of users who currently have remote connections to this computer.
Caution: Windows NT 4.0 Workstation allows a maximum of 10 simultaneous remote connections to the computer at any given time. Windows NT Server, which supports an unlimited number of connections, must be used if more than 10 remote users need to access a Windows NT system at one time. (Note that each Windows NT Server connection requires a Windows NT Server Client Access License — contact Microsoft for more information about Windows NT licensing policies.)
Open Files: Displays the number of files currently open (being accessed) by connected users on this computer.
File Locks: Displays the total number of file locks in use by users remotely connected to this computer. File locks let applications control the exclusivity they maintain when accessing a file.
Open Named Pipes: Displays the total number of open named pipes on this computer. A named pipe is an interprocess communication mechanism that lets one application communicate with another running either locally or on a remote (networked) computer.
Description: Lets you enter a description for this Windows NT computer, which will be displayed in places such as dialog boxes generated by network clients browsing available network servers.
The buttons at the bottom of the dialog box let you view and control details about the computer’s resources. Each of these buttons controls a different function and opens a different statistics window. The buttons’ functions are described in the following sections.
Users
Clicking the Users button brings up the User Sessions dialog box, which shows the users currently connected to your Windows NT computer and the resources currently being shared by those users. The dialog box is shown in Figure 5.51.
The top portion of the dialog box displays a list of connected users, and the bottom portion shows the shared resources (e.g., shared directories) currently being used by the user whose name is highlighted. To show the resources in use by a different user, simply click that user’s name in the list at the top of the dialog box.
This dialog box also lets you disconnect individual users or all users from your computer (and, therefore, disconnect all resources they are currently using). To disconnect an individual user from the computer, simply select the user’s name in the top list of users and choose the Disconnect button. If you wish to select multiple users, click the first user and then either Shift-click another user (which causes all users between the first and last user to be selected) or Ctrl-click additional users (which adds or removes the currently highlighted user from the list of selected users). To disconnect all users, simply choose the Disconnect All button at the bottom of the dialog box.
Caution: Disconnecting users can cause them to lose data. You should always give ample warning to any users connected to your computer before you shut your system down or otherwise disconnect them. They will then be able to save any open files and disconnect properly from shared resources on your computer. There are several ways to notify users that you will be shutting down your system or otherwise disconnecting them, including the Net Send command (from a Windows NT command prompt), a mail message (using the Windows Messaging System Client), and the Chat application (found in the Accessories program folder).
Special Note: Whenever you administer another computer remotely, a resource named IPC$ (Inter-Process Control) appears as “in use” on that computer next to your user name. IPC$ is a special resource used by Windows NT that will not be disconnected even if you or someone else attempts to disconnect your user account using the Disconnect or Disconnect All buttons.
The User Sessions dialog box also displays some additional information about connected users and the shared resources. For each connected user, Windows NT 4.0 displays the total number of shared resources opened by this user, the time at which the session with the user was established (i.e., when the user first connected to this machine), how long it has been since the user has been active (shown in the Idle column), and whether or not the user is connected via the Windows NT Guest account.
For More Information: For more information about the Guest account, see “Managing Users and Groups with User Manager,” Chapter 8.
For each shared resource displayed at the bottom of the dialog box, Windows NT also displays the total number of “opens” from that resource (i.e., number of files open on a particular shared directory), as well as the elapsed time in hours and minutes since each user first connected to the selected resource.
Shares
The Shares button is similar to the Users button, but gives a share-centric view of open resources rather than the user-centric one shown by the Users button. Clicking the Shares button displays the Shared Resources dialog box (shown in Figure 5.52).
This window shows a reverse view of the one shown via the Users button; that is, it shows a list of all open resources at top, and a list of all users connected to the currently selected resource at bottom. To show the users connected to a different shared resource, simply click the resource name in the list; the list of connected users below changes accordingly.
There are several types of shared resources that may appear in the Shared Resources dialog box. These resource types, their descriptions, and their icons are listed in Table 5.7.
Special Note: In certain situations, a printer connection may be displayed as a named pipe rather than a shared printer icon.
As with the Users button, you can disconnect users from shared resources using the Disconnect button. Alternatively, all users can be disconnected simultaneously using the Disconnect All button. As mentioned in the previous section, make sure users receive adequate warning and are given an opportunity to save files before they are disconnected. Otherwise, they could lose data.
Finally, the dialog box displays additional statistics about the shared resources and connected users. For each shared resource, the number of connections to the resource and path name (if applicable) of the resource are shown to the right of the resource name. In the list of connected users, information appears about when the user connected to the selected resource and whether the resource is currently in use.
In Use
The In Use button displays the Open Resources dialog box, which lists all of the resources that are currently open on your Windows NT computer along with information about which user is accessing the resource, what type of access is active for the resource, the total number of file locks on the resource, and the path name of the resource (e.g., the full path name of an open file). The Open Resources dialog box is shown in Figure 5.53.
The Open Resources dialog box contains several additional buttons. The Refresh button causes Windows NT to update the list of open resources on the machine. The Close button closes the dialog box. The Close Resource button can be used in conjunction with a selected resource to close that resource. The Close All Resources button can close all currently open resources.
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