What is server monitoring
ANSWER
Server
Monitoring is a process of monitoring server's system resources like CPU usage,
Memory Consumption, I/O, Network, Disk Usage, Process etc. It is a way of
ensuring that your server machine is capable of hosting your applications to
make sure that they are in good health. Server Monitoring provides you with
data relating to your operating system. When used in conjunction with other
monitoring data from the application it gives you the true glimpse into the
working of your system.
·
When
the hard disk is well monitored, there is space on the disk for normal
operating processes including paging files and certain caches and for the
application running on the server to write temporary data to cache for
efficient operation.
·
A server can load information
required by certain applications into RAM for faster access thereby improving
the overall performance of the application.
·
With server monitoring, CPU hardware
could as well be upgraded and the fan speed monitored.
So, server monitoring is all about
keeping in check the health of the server.
ANSWER
Active
Directory Domain Services (ADDS): is the brain of a windows server network. It
is a database that keeps track of a huge amount of stuff and gives us
centralized way to manage all our network machines, users and resources.
It handles
and keeps track of:
Users and groups: User accounts are valid to the
security of the network because you don’t want anybody to have access to your
stuffs on the network.
Services (eg. Email): It provides access to emails and
other applications you might have on your network that are active directory
integrated.
Resources (eg printers, shared
folders etc)
All these
are seen in active directory as objects. That is an object is a thing that
active directory keeps track of. Anytime you login to a corporate network, you
are using active directory. As a user, you send a login request to a machine
called a domain controller and it checks the active directory database to see
if you have access or not. Once it finds your user account (username & password),
it grants you access to what you want. That is the work of active directory.
ANSWER
Profile in a computer is a record of user’s
data that defines the user's working environment. The record can include
display settings, application settings, and network connections. That is, it is
a visual display of personal data associated with a specific user, or a
customized desktop environment. A profile can be used to store the description
of the characteristics and preferences of a person. The network administrator is in
absolute control of all the profiles on the network. So, what the user sees on
his or her computer screen, as well as what files, applications and directories
they have access to, is determined by how the network administrator set up the
user's profile.
One
important type of profile is known as the Roaming
Profile. It is the profile of end users that are stored in the server. Each
time the user logs on; their profile is requested and sent to whatever machine
makes the request. This makes it possible for the user to access hi/her profile
irrespective of any computer he/she uses on the network.
ANSWER
Audit
policy in a server helps to check and control what events on a server should be
logged for auditing purposes.It allows you monitor how users modify and
create objects. Events are stored in the event log, it gives a way to track
security problems and ensures accountability. It includes:
v
Audit
account logon events: This enables you to see user’s login and off, to and
from another computer.
v
Audit
account management: Enables you to see when a user changed password &
user group. It also enables you to see when they changed account name, created
or deleted account, enable or disable account.
v
Audit
direct service access: To see when someone accesses active directory.
v
Audit
logon events: To see the logon or off of a user.
v
Audit
object access: To see each time a user used a server, file, folder etc.
v
Audit
policy change: To see any attempt made to change any local policy.
v
Audit
privilege use: To see any user right performed.
v
Audit
process tracking: To see any event that occurs.
v
Audit
system events: To see when a user shuts down or restarted any computer.
Server backup
The
Windows server backup provides backup and recovery solutions that perform
recoveries without referring to another backup.
It enhances backup performance and saves space. Windows Server Backup
creates complete backups that allow you to perform recoveries of your computer
without needing to reference another backup. You can as well use Windows Server
Backup to protect your operating system, system state, volumes, files, and
application data. Backups can be saved to single or multiple disks, single or
multiple volumes, DVDs and removable media. They can be scheduled to run
automatically or manually. When you create a backup and save it to a storage
location, the backup that you create will be saved in a folder named
“WindowsImageBackup”. In addition to the backup, this folder includes catalog
files that contain information about all backups on that location, even up to
the current backup, and a file named “MediaId”, that contains the identifier
for the backup storage location. These informations are required for the
purpose of recovery. If you use a disk
or volume to store backups, Windows Server Backup automatically deletes older
backups as a storage location becomes full.
Windows
Server Backup does not allow for backing up file and folders on volumes that
require more than 2040 GB (or 2 TB). However, as long as the data size is less
than 2 TB, you can perform a file or folder backup. The functions of Windows
Server Backup are:
It
provides solution for everyday backup and recovery needs.
·
It
is used to backup a full server, a system states or a selected volume/volumes.
·
It
performs a system recovery to recover the whole system into a new storage
device.
·
It
provides automatic disk usage management.
·
Has
the ability to recover applications.
·
Provides
simplified recovery of operating systems.
·
Provides
faster backup technology. It provides support for optical media drives and
removable media.
It has the
following options:
System state:To backup options needed for system
state recovery.
Files or folders:Back up just individual folders or
files if you only want to be able to recover those items.
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·
|
Full server (all
volumes):Back up all volumes if you want to
be able to recover the full server performs and performs bare metal
recoveries.
Critical Volumes:Used to backup items needed to
recover an OS.
Individual Volumes:Used to backup individual volumes.
|
·
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LDDS with
configuration
ANSWER
Lightweight Directory Directory Services (LDDS) also known
as Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS) is an independent
mode of Active Directory that provides directory services for applications.
That is, it provides a data store and also services for accessing the data
store. To access the applications or data stored, it uses Application Program
Interfaces (API).
Though it is a mode of Active Directory, it operates
independently of it and is independent of Active Directory domains or forests. Being
independent, enables local control and autonomy of directory services for
specific applications. It also facilitates independent, flexible schemas, and
naming contexts.
Although LDDS/AD LDS and Active Directory can operate
concurrently within the same network, it serves the requirements of specific
applications. Without Active Directory,
an instance of LDDS can be created for a specific application. During its
installation, multiple instances of LDDS each supporting a separate application
can run.
LDDS does not include directory services for the Windows
operating system, so it concentrates on the requirements of specific
applications. When working in active directory environment, LDDS can use Active
Directory for authentication. Here is how to configure LDDS in
Windows 8:Open
control panel, click Programs, click Turn Windows features on or off, select
Active Directory Light Weight Directory Services.Follow the rest of the instructions on the installation wizard.
Windows Server 2012: Open “Server Manager Dashboard”, click “Add roles and features”.
On the “Before you begin page”, select “Role-based or Feature-based installation” and then select the option “Select a server from the server pool”.
Select the server name, and follow the rest of the instructions on the AD LDS installation wizard.
Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2:After you finish installing the operating system, a list of initial configuration tasks appears.
To install AD LDS, in the list of tasks, click “Add roles”, and then click “Active Directory Lightweight Directory Server”.
After you add the AD LDS server role to your server, you can create an AD LDS instance. To create an AD LDS instance, click “Start”, point to “Administrative Tools”, and then click “Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services Setup Wizard”.
ANSWER
Windows Server Update Service (WSUS) is a Microsoft
introduced feature that was meant to distribute the software updates within an
organization in a short period of time. It is a patch management tool to
authorize, publish, and distribute updates within a network. It makes possible for all Windows computers to
automatically download updates. WSUS lets you deploy all the Microsoft updates
on all the computers running on windows OS including Windows XP SP2, Widows
Vista, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2003 and manage the distribution
of them to all the computers on your network effectively. It helps in proper
and effective utilization of bandwidth and to provide complete control over all
the updates being installed.
WSUS connects the Microsoft websites and download all the
relevant available updates. These update are then queued awaiting the approval
of the network administrator. Once he approves it, the updates are now
automatically sent to all the Windows computers on the network as their need
may be. Now the client computers check the server to download the WSUS server
to download all the updates. The network administrator again approves that the
client computers install these updates.
WSUS phases:
Assess:For updates to be
routinely carried out, there is need for a production environment to be setup.
Identify:This is to
identify all available updates needed to be installed in especially a
production environment.
Evaluation and Plan:When
updates are identified, they are evaluated i.e. tested in a test environment.
List of tasks that are essential to deploying the updates are established and
then plan to release these updates.
Deploy:Here the user
acceptance is obtained, approved and scheduled. Then deployment is then
reviewed. The update management process is to be conducted regularly because
new updates are always available.
Each of these four phases has different methods and goals of
using WSUS features for update management.
WSUS has four methods of deployment:
Single WSUS server deployment:Here
the server synchronizes updates with Microsoft directly behind a firewall.
Multiple Independent Server
Deployment:Used in organizations having many branches. Each branch
is configured with different WSUS server.
Multiple Internally Synchronized
Server: The upstream server receives updates from Microsoft and the
downstream server from upstream. Used in organization having many branches.
Disconnected WSUS server: Servers
are configured on a network that downloads updates and stores into a media.
Updates are manually transferred to other WSUS servers.
Different types of Server
2008 operating system
ANSWER
Windows
Server 2008 comes in different editions/types. Each of them is appropriate for
a specific role. Here are the types/editions:
Windows Server 2008 Standard
Edition: It was
designed to provide to increase the reliability and flexibility of server
infrastructure which helps to reduce cost and save time. It is used in small or
medium businesses and is ideal for providing domain, web,DNS, remote
access, print, file and application services. It supports different hardware
platforms which includes 32GB of RAM, 32-bit and 64-bit. Some also supports
Hyper virtualization.
Windows Server 2008
Enterprise Edition: This edition provides greater functionality and
scalability than the Standard Edition. It offers features for virtualization,
power savings and manageability. It also helps employees working in various
locations to gain access to their company resources. In terms of hardware
requirement, it supports 64-bit processors, and up to 2TB of RAM.
Windows Server 2008
Datacenter Edition:It is mainly for large scale virtualization. Itrepresents
the top end of the Windows Server 2008 product range and is targeted at mission
critical enterprises requiring stability and high uptime levels. In terms of hardware requirement, it supports
2TB of RAM, 64-bit processors. It also supports Hyper-V and 16-node failover
cluster.
Windows Web Server
2008:Windows Server 2008 was designed primarily for the purpose of
providing web services. It includes Internet Information Services along with
associated services such as Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) and Telnet. It
is available in a 64-bit version only and supports up to 4 processors and 32GB
of RAM. It also supports network load balancing clusters.
Windows Server for
Itanium-Based Systems: It is meant for large database. Specially designed
for system that uses 64-bit Itanium processors. It provides the functionality
of Web Server and Application Server to Itanium-based Windows Server 2008.
Windows Server 2008
Server Core: This is the latest in Windows Server 2008. A server running
Server core can be managed remotely through Microsoft Management Console (MMC)
and a Remote Desktop Console can be established on Server Core computer.
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