The
Windows SBS Console provides administrators with many of the most vital
Windows SBS controls and settings, leaving the details and comprehensive
access to the standard Windows Server 2008 R2 tools. The same is true
when it comes to monitoring and reporting. The console can provide
administrators with basic real-time monitoring, programmed alerts, and
reports that it generates on a regular basis.
1. Using the Network Essentials Summary
On the Home page of the Windows SBS Console, as shown in Figure 1, the Network Essentials Summary pane provides a high-level, real-time view of four basic performance areas:
-
Security Checks for the presence of virus and spyware protection, as well as active firewalls, on both your servers and workstations
-
Updates Makes sure
that Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) is running and that all the
network servers and workstations have the latest updates installed
-
Backup Checks to see that the server is configured to perform regular backups and whether the backups are completing successfully
-
Other alerts
Checks for a variety of other conditions, including Error events in the
System log, required services that are not running, and other important
system status alerts
Each of the four areas in the Network Essentials Summary pane has a status indicator with a colored icon specifying the current status of the area: OK (green check mark), Warning (yellow exclamation point), or Critical
(red X). There is also an arrow in each area that you can click to
display more information about the network’s current condition and
expose a link to a console page providing more detailed information, as
shown in Figure 2.
Unfortunately, the conditions that trigger a
change in these status displays are not configurable. If, for example,
you have deliberately stopped one of the services on your server that
Windows SBS considers to be essential, the Other alerts status always appears as Critical, and clicking the arrow only tells you that one of your servers has reported an alert. You have to click the Go to computers
link and seek more information about the problem before you can
determine whether the alert concerns the stopped service you know about
or a new condition.
