Abstract
Once your Windows NT Server network is set up, it requires ongoing day-to-day maintenance and improvement. In this chapter, the author shares a dozen daily tasks that a successful NT administrator needs to perform to keep his network running smoothly.
In This Chapter
 Using the Windows NT Server 4.0 toolkit and the Administrative Wizards
Fire fighting—end user support issues
Troubleshooting
Performing regularly scheduled tape backups and verifying backups via test restores
Testing server and desktop virus protection and updating virus data
Verifying free disk space on your servers
Keeping tabs on your servers with Event Viewer
Verifying that all servers, applications, and databases are up and functional
Verifying LAN and WAN connectivity
Adding new hardware to your Windows NT server
Documenting and sharing procedures
Keeping your users working and happy
At this point, your Windows NT Server network is up and running: Your servers are set up, the applications have been installed, the users are happily working away, and everything’s going well. You’re the new hero around the office. Now what?
Well, your job isn’t getting any easier. Day-to-day administration of your Windows NT network will be every bit as challenging as the initial setup, but it will be just as much fun as well. This chapter will explore the daily tasks every Windows NT administrator should perform to ensure that his or her network stays up and purrs along efficiently. A good network administrator should make it a goal to perform all of these tasks daily, but all of us in the real-life NT administration game know that’s not always feasible. Just do your best, and customize these tasks to meet the needs of your network.
Some of the things discussed in this chapter have already been explained in Chapter 3. But this chapter includes a concise 12-step approach to the daily in’s and out’s of Windows NT Server administration. These are the daily dozen activities a Windows NT Server administrator can expect to perform. Undoubtedly, you will be able to add your own daily activities to this “list” as you see fit.
STEP 1: THE WINDOWS NT/MCSE TOOLKIT
As discussed in Chapter 3, every Windows NT administrator has a number of tools he or she uses each day to help keep the network humming along. Most of these tools are supplied with the operating system: User Manager for Domains, Server Manager, Event Viewer, Performance Monitor, and several others. But a few of these tools are physical tools such as “real” hardware tools, CD-ROM guides, books, even emergency telephone numbers. All of these are discussed in this section. Everyone has a different approach to running his or her network, but at least several of these wide-ranging tools are found in just about every admin’s list of frequently called-upon utilities and bag of tips, tricks, secrets, and general know-how.
The first step is to gather all of your frequently used programs into one place on your administrative workstation. I have a folder on my Windows NT Workstation’s desktop called “Toolkit” (see Figure 11-1). This folder contains all of the programs I use on a daily basis while maintaining my network. I always leave the Toolkit window open, so these programs are within easy reach throughout the day. You’d be surprised how much time this saves over searching through the Start menu.
User Manager for Domains
User Manager for Domains (see Figure 11-2) is definitely a cornerstone of the Windows NT administrator’s toolbox. I covered many uses for User Manager for Domains in Chapter 3, but here is a short list of what you can accomplish using this tool:
- Add and delete users and groups.
- Change user access levels and group memberships.
- Establish trust relationships with other Windows NT domains.
- Establish domain-wide policies governing password characteristics, account lockouts, and other settings.
- Grant or remove specific user and group rights.
I leave User Manager for Domains window open on my desktop through most workdays, and I use it several times a day while maintaining my Windows NT network.
Server Manager
Server Manager (see Figure 11-3) is another key element of running a Windows NT network. With this tool, you can:
- Add and remove computer accounts.
- Administer services.
- Create and delete shares on your servers.
- See who’s using resources on servers.
- Disconnect users if necessary.
- Establish alert destinations so that servers can notify you of errors via the NT Messenger Service.
- Set up directory replication between servers.
Every Windows NT administrator I know uses Server Manager several times daily, so you’ll want to keep it handy.
Event Viewer
One of Windows NT’s advantages is its logging of all significant system events. I’ll cover Event Viewer in more detail later as part of Step 7 in this chapter, but it’s worth a mention now as an essential part of the NT admin’s toolbox. In the day-to-day grind of running a network, you’ll find yourself referring to Event Viewer several times daily.
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Secret: One of the best secrets that I can offer you in this entire book is actually one of the simplest; that is, you should check the Event Viewer first thing each day. The Event Viewer, acting as your early warning system, is where you can assess the good and bad activity that has impacted your Windows NT Server overnight. |
Performance Monitor
Performance Monitor tips and techniques are explained thoroughly in Chapter 22, “Performance Monitor.” Enjoy that chapter, and keep Performance Monitor available for easy access during your workday. Properly used, it’s one of the best ways to quickly assess your network’s health.
In addition to these daily staples, Windows NT Server comes with other tools you’ll use less frequently but should keep available:
- Disk Administrator, for defining disk partitions, expanding drives, setting up fault tolerance, and changing drive letters
- License Manager, to ensure your network is compliant with the licensing scheme you chose during Setup
- Migration Tool for NetWare, if you are moving users from a NetWare environment to NT
- Network Client Administrator, for creating network boot disks so that bare client computers can connect to the network for operating system installation
- System Policy Editor, used to create system policies governing users’ access to their computers and the network
- Windows NT Diagnostics, for inspecting hardware and operating system characteristics
Windows NT Server also includes management tools for specialized network services such as Windows Internet Name Service, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, Remote Access, and Network Monitor. These tools appear in the Administrative Tools program group as the services are added (see Figure 11-4).
Administrative Wizards
Windows NT Server’s Administrative Wizards utilities are the Rodney Dangerfield of server administration: They don’t get no respect. Most experienced administrators scoff at these “cute” wizards, instead choosing to use the appropriate NT Server administration tool or command line utilities. However, the Administrative Wizards (see Figure 11-5) can be very useful, and in fact Microsoft’s Small Business Server version of Windows NT Server relies heavily on wizards during setup and for day-to-day administration.
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Secret: I have found this tool, Administrative Wizards, to be most useful for sites that have under 100 users. It is here that you find less experienced network administrators who, at least initially, can benefit from the simple Administrative Wizards interface. In fact, it was a peer at a medium-sized firm that brought home this point to me.
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The Administrative Wizards make life easier in “regular” versions of Windows NT Server as well, even for seasoned administrators. Although a couple of items in the Wizards window, such as the Add Printer Wizard or the Network Client Administrator, are just shortcuts to NT functions, most of these icons start up actual wizards that simplify common NT Server tasks such as adding users and groups, setting file and directory permissions, and monitoring licensing. Even if you’re an experienced NT administrator, give the Administrative Wizards a second look. They might help you accomplish tasks more quickly, and that’s one way to work smarter. The different wizard options are:
- Add User Accounts. This creates new user accounts.
- Group Management. This enables you to create or modify group accounts.
- Managing File and Folder Access. This sets permissions on files and folders.
- Add Printer. This enables you to set up printers that are connected to your computer or on a network.
- Add/Remove Programs. This enables you to install or remove programs from your computer.
- Install New Modem. This enables you to set up modems that are connected to your computer.
- Network Client Administrator. This installs or updates network client workstations. Note that this is the closest regular Windows NT Server 4.0 (build 1381) comes to having a client installation (or “magic”) disk such as that used by Small Business Server (SBS). See Chapter 20 for more discussion on SBS.
- License Compliance. This enables you to check the licensing for installed applications.
In many ways, the Administrative Wizards constitute Microsoft’s attempt to define and centralize the most common tasks one might perform on a daily basis. In this case, you might call Administrative Wizards the “daily 8” from Microsoft’s perspective.
Third-party administration tools
In addition to the tools Microsoft supplies with Windows NT Server, administration utilities are available from several third parties. One that I swear by is Hyena, from Adkins Resource in Adkins, Texas (see Figure 11-6). Hyena makes daily administration a lot easier for myself and my partners at work: It combines all the functionality of User Manager, Server Manager, and Event Viewer into one application, and it includes some Windows Explorer functions as well, such as NTFS permissions management for local and remote servers.
Hyena’s tree-based, Windows Explorer-like interface makes viewing domains and servers a snap, and it’s been updated every couple of months with major improvements and new functionality. My personal favorite feature about Hyena, and the one that sold my boss on it, was the great improvement in viewing open files on a server. In the Open Files window in Server Manager, you must scroll all the way to the right to see actual filenames, and that can be a real pain when you’re searching for a specific file. In Hyena, you can view the open files in a normal-sized, expandable window, which makes for much easier identification of file locks.
The MCSE toolkit
I will now share my MCSE toolkit with you. That is, these are the resources I have found you will most likely be called upon to use in performing your duties as both an MCSE and a Windows NT Server network administrator.
So what’s in my toolkit? My toolkit ranges from bona fide tools such as a screwdriver to a list of peers’ telephone numbers to a parts catalog. In short, my experience base is reflected in what I carry on my person and in my auto as a day-to-day practicing MCSE. If you haven’t already done so, take a moment to look at what you carry or have easy access to as your tools of the trade. Such a self assessment speaks volumes about how you leverage your time and knowledge as a Windows NT Server professional and/or certified professional (such as an MCSE).
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