Windows Server 2008 Management and Maintenance

Windows Server systems are the heart of the IT infrastructure that supports businesses. These servers need to be managed and maintained to keep the businesses running optimally. Server management and maintenance help maximize investment in infrastructure and productivity. They also keep the IT infrastructure running effectively and efficiently to boost availability and reliability.

Windows Server 2008 brings many new tools and features to help keep the servers managed and maintained. These tools include the new Server Manager, better auditing, improved configuration of servers through the roles and features, better remote management, and a slew of other capabilities. Many formerly manual tasks are automated in Windows 2008 using the enhanced Task Scheduler. These include tasks such as defragmentation and backup.

Server management entails many different tasks; they include, but are not limited to, administering and supervising servers based on functional roles, proactively monitoring the network environment, keeping track of activity, and implementing solid change-control practices. These management functions for Windows 2008 can be performed both locally and remotely.

As systems' workloads, capacities, and usage change in the environment, the systems need to be maintained so that they operate as efficiently as possible. Without such maintenance, systems become more susceptible to causing slower response times and decreased reliability. Efforts to maintain those systems should be made periodically to avoid any inefficiency. This tutorial covers best practices on ways an organization can maintain and manage its Windows 2008 environment.