3. Creating and Viewing Reports
Another way to monitor Windows SBS network activity is to create reports. When you click Reports in the Windows SBS Console, you see the interface shown in Figure 4, which displays the two reports that Windows SBS 2011 creates by default.
The reports that the Windows SBS Console generates are expanded versions of the Network essentials summary that appears on the console’s Home page, captured at a specific time. By default, Windows SBS runs a Summary network report each day at 3:15 A.M. and a Detailed network report
each Sunday at 3:45 A.M., and emails them both to the Windows SBS
Administrators distribution group. You can modify the schedule for these
reports as needed, as well as their contents and their recipients. You can also create your own reports.
The Summary network report, as shown in Figure 5, displays the status of six system areas, which include the same Security, Updates, Backup, and Other alerts areas as the Network essentials summary; plus two more: E-mail usage and mailbox sizes and Server event logs. For each area that has an Error
status, the report includes a one-line summary of the basic problem. In
nearly all cases, the summary report can indicate that a problem
exists, but administrators must consult other server resources to
determine the source and nature of the problem.
The Detailed Network Report, as shown in Figure 6,
covers the same six areas, but provides more information for each one,
regardless of its status. The detailed report includes statistics,
policy settings, and key error messages that can often provide
administrators with enough information to diagnose a problem without
having to consult other resources.
Caution
Remember that both of these reports
reflect the condition of the network at the time that the system
generated them. By the time you read the reports, some conditions might
have changed.
Modifying the Default Reports
The Detailed Network Report begins with a Summary section that is identical to the Summary Network Report, followed by a Details
section. Because the system does not take very long to generate either
report, you might want to consider modifying the default schedules to
generate the detailed report every day instead of once per week.
To modify the schedule of the Detailed Network Report, perform the following:
-
Log on to your Windows SBS 2011 primary server, using an account with network Administrator privileges. The Windows SBS Console appears.
-
Click Reports.
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Select Detailed network report and, from the Tasks list, click View report properties. The Detailed Network Report Properties sheet appears.
-
Click the Schedule tab.
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From the Recurrence drop-down list, select Daily. From the Time drop-down list, select a different time for the report to run, if desired.
-
Click OK.
In addition to modifying
the default reports, you can create new reports that contain
information on specific areas and run at specified times, which the
system supplies to specific users via email. To create a new report,
follow this procedure:
-
Log on to your Windows SBS 2011 primary server, using an account with network Administrator privileges. The Windows SBS Console appears.
-
Click Reports.
-
From the Tasks list, select Add a new report. The New Report Properties sheet appears.
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In the Report name text box, type the name you want to assign to the report. Then click the Content tab.
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Select the check boxes for the areas that you want to include in the report and click the E-Mail options tab.
-
Select the E-Mail this report at its scheduled time
check box and select the check boxes for the internal users or groups
that you want to receive the report. You can also type other email
addresses in the Other e-mail addresses (separated by a semi-colon) text box, if desired. Then, click the Schedule tab.
-
In the Recurrence drop-down list, specify whether you want the system to run the report daily or weekly. From the Time drop-down list, select the time of day that you want the system to generate the report. If you chose the Weekly option, select a value in the Day of the week drop-down list.
-
Click OK. The new report appears on the Reports page.
