Introduction to Network Management

As a network administrator, you will perform various tasks to keep the network up and running. These include computers, users (the people who use the network), the peripherals (the other machines attached either to the computers or directly to the network. To make this possible, both Microsoft Windows XP Professional and Windows Server 2003 provide the various tools you will need. If you are managing a peer-to-peer network, the former provides local and possibly small network tools to manage workstations. For a client/server network, Microsoft Windows Server 2003 provides all the tools you need to locally or remotely manage the servers or the clients.

Most of the tools used to locally manage a Microsoft Windows XP Professional or a peer-to-peer network are listed in the Administrative Tools window. To open it, you can open Control Panel and double-click Administrative Tools:

As you install more software or libraries to your computer, the tools may increase in sophistication and number. Here is an example:

To use a tool, you can double-click it.

Like Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Windows Server 2003 groups its administration routines under an ensemble referred to as Administrative Tools. Unlike the former, the later provides various ways of accessing the tools.

After you have just setup Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and installed Active Directory, the first window that comes up provides some of the most regular tools you will need to administer the network:

The middle section of this window provides only a limited list of tools, considered to be the most regularly used. Alternatively, you can display the whole list of tools in a window. To do this, under the Tools and Updates Section, you can click Administrative Tools:

To use a tool, you can double-click it.

Another technique you can access the tools consists of clicking Start -> Administrative Tools:

Another technique consists of click Start -> All Programs -> Administrative Tools

You can also click Start -> Control Panel -> Administrative Tools.

With any of these previous techniques, to use a tool, simply click it from the menu.

The Microsoft Management Console

Introduction

If you have some experience with Windows Explorer of Microsoft Windows 9X and later, you may be aware that, in that same window, you can open your folders, view your files, open Control Panel, or even view a web page. In the same way, to make computer and network management easy, Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 provide a common window named Microsoft Management Console or MMC. This makes it possible for all routine operations to be performed in a window that primary looks the same regardless of the task being performed. You can perform all routines operations without formally being aware that you are using the MMC.

Practical Learning: Introducing the MMC

1. To view examples of administrative applications that share an interface:
    

   If you are using Microsoft Windows XP Professional, click open Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools, and double-click Computer Management   If you are using Microsoft Windows Server 2003, click Start -> Administrative tools -> Active Directory Users and Computers

2. To one more administrative window:
    

   If you are using Microsoft Windows XP Professional, in the Administrative Tools window, double-click Services   If you are using Microsoft Windows Server 2003, click Start -> All Programs -> Administrative tools -> Event Viewer

3. Close the windows

MMC From Nothing

You might have noticed that the windows of the MMC have the same menu items File, Action, View, and Help. This is because many tools share  them. Inside of the MMC, a tool you use is called a snap-in. This is because it is simply an application that is added in the MMC. Once the tool has been "snapped" in the MMC, it displays as a console.

As you manage your network, you may find out that there are some tools you need constantly more than others. Instead of always opening only one tool at a time, you can create your own customized version of the MMC and include in it the tools you use most regularly. Also, if you are the supervisor of a group of administrators, you can create special versions of the MMC to let them perform their daily routines. If you are the administrator of a small network for a client, since you cannot work in their office all the time, you can create a type of MMC that they can use while you are away or as you guide them over the phone.

Before grouping the desired tools or customizing the way the MMC looks with a particular tool, you can start by opening an "empty" MMC, that is, an MMC without a particular tool. To do this, you can click Start -> Run, type mmc (or mmc.exe), and press Enter.

The MMC appears as a window titled Console1 and a first node labeled Console Root:

The first action to take would consist of adding the desired tool(s) to the window. To do this, you can click File -> Add/Remove Snap-in... and follow the wizard.

After creating an MMC console, you can save it as a file. The file would have the extension .msc.

Practical Learning: Customizing the MMC

1. If necessary, launch Microsoft Windows XP Professional or Windows Server 2003.
   On the taskbar, click Start -> Run
2. Type mmc and press Enter
3. On the main menu of Console1, click File -> Add/Remove Snap-in...
    
   
4. Click Add...
5. Under the Snap-In header, click Computer Management and click Add
6. In the Computer Management wizard, accept the Local Computer radio button.
   Click the Allow the Selected Computer to be Changed... check box
    
   
7. Click Finish
8. Once again, in the Add Standalone Snap-in dialog box, click Performance Logs and Alerts) and click Add
9. Click Close
    
   
10. Click OK
     
    
11. To save and click the MMC, on the main menu, click File -> Save As...
12. Set the file name to Computer Performance and click Save
13. To close the MMC, on the main menu, click File -> Exit
14. To reopen the MMC, on the taskbar, click Start -> Run...
15. Type mmc and press Enter
16. To open a previously saved MMC, on the main menu, click File -> Open
17. Click Computer Management.msc and click Open
18. To review the current tools available, on the main menu, click File -> Add/Remove Snap-in...
19. In the Add/Remove Snapp-in dialog box, click the Extensions tab and, if necessary, in the combo box, select Computer Management
     
    
20. Click OK