Monitoring Server account considerations

The built-in Local System user account has a high level of access privileges and is part of the Administrators group on the local computer. If a worker process identity runs as the Local System user account, that worker process has full access to the entire system. When Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 is running in IIS 5.0 isolation mode, the Local System account is the default user account for worker process identities. The Local System account has full access, by default, and is therefore not recommended for use with Monitoring Server. A Local System account should only be used if absolutely necessary.

The built-in Network Service user account has fewer access privileges on the system than the Local System user account, but it is still able to access resources across the network with the credentials of the computer account. For IIS 6.0, we recommend that the worker process identity that is defined for application pools run as the Network Service user account, which is the default setting.

The built-in Local Service user account has fewer access privileges on the computer than the Network Service user account, and those user privileges are limited to the local computer. We recommend that you use the Local Service user account if the worker process does not require access outside the computer on which it is running. The Local Service account should only be used if Monitoring Server is limited to a single computer and has no access to network resources.

This topic is included in the following downloadable book for easier reading and printing:

• Monitoring Server Planning and Architecture Guide for PerformancePoint Server 2007

See the full list of available books at Downloadable content for PerformancePoint Monitoring Server.