Monitoring overview

You can monitor your server performance and create reports for your computer running Microsoft® Windows® Small Business Server 2003. The following tools and reports are available for you to proactively monitor the health and use of your server.

The Monitoring and Reporting snap-in in Server Management

The Monitoring and Reporting snap-in in Server Management provides information about server performance and usage and provides access to tools used to configure monitoring options.

When you click the Monitoring and Reporting snap-in in the console tree, you can view the latest performance report. You can also perform the following tasks:

Task Description

View Usage Report

Displays server usage data. This task is available only when the performance report is displayed.

View Performance Report

Displays performance data for the computer running Windows Small Business Server. This task is available only when the usage report is displayed.

View Services

Opens the Services management console, from which you can view and manage the services running on the server. This task is available only when the performance report is displayed.

View Event Logs

Opens Event Viewer, from which you can view the event logs for the computer running Windows Small Business Server 2003. This task is available only when the performance report is displayed.

Open Task Manager

Opens Windows Task Manager, from which you can monitor processes, open and close applications, and view performance statistics. This task is available only when the performance report is displayed.

Set Up Monitoring Reports and Alerts

Starts the Monitoring Configuration Wizard, which enables you to set options for performance and usage reporting, give users permissions to view reports online, and specify which users should receive alert notifications.

Change Server Status Report Settings

Opens the Server Status Reports configuration tool. This tool enables you to edit the configuration of an existing performance or usage report, add or remove reports, or immediately send the latest report to an e-mail recipient.

Change Alert Notifications

Opens the Alert Notifications configuration tool. Using this tool, you can select one or more predefined alerts to display in the performance report or automatically send e-mail to the administrator when a specified condition or threshold is reached. The tool can also be used to change the threshold for a selected performance counter and to specify one or more e-mail alert recipients. This task is available only when the performance report is displayed.

The Monitoring Configuration Wizard

You can use the Windows Small Business Server 2003 Monitoring Configuration Wizard to enable, modify, or repair the monitoring and reporting features. After installing the server, run the wizard to establish the initial monitoring configuration. If you need to make changes to the configuration at a later time, run the wizard again.

For information about the Monitoring Configuration Wizard, see Using the Monitoring Configuration Wizard.

Note

  • To run the Monitoring Configuration Wizard, click Configure Monitoring in the To Do List or Set Up Monitoring Reports and Alerts in the Monitoring and Reporting snap-in in Server Management.

Server performance and usage reports

Windows Small Business Server 2003 performance and usage reports contain detailed information about the overall health and use of your server. Performance reports contain status information about services, performance counters, and alerts. Usage reports contain information about users' Internet, e-mail, and fax usage, as well as remote connectivity.

The reports are created automatically based upon selections you make when you run the Monitoring Configuration Wizard.

After running the Monitoring Configuration Wizard, you can view the reports from the Monitoring and Reporting snap-in in Server Management. The performance report is displayed by default. A link to the usage report is provided in the details pane.

Using the wizard, you can also choose to send the reports to specified e-mail recipients and grant users' permission to view the usage report from a page on the company's internal Web site at:

https://ServerName/monitoring

You can make changes to the default reports or create new reports using the Server Status Reports configuration tool. With this tool, you can specify the type of content contained in a report sent in e-mail, attach log files to the report, specify e-mail recipients, and change the time that the report is scheduled to run.

For more information about server performance and usage reports, see Understanding the server performance report and Understanding the server usage report.

Note

  • To open the Server Status Reports configuration tool, click Change Server Status Report Settings in the Monitoring and Reporting snap-in in Server Management.

Alert notifications

You can configure the server to generate an alert when a critical service is not running or when a selected performance counter threshold is exceeded. Alerts are displayed in performance reports and can optionally be sent to administrators in e-mail.

A number of predefined alerts are available for selection in the Windows Small Business Server 2003 Alert Notifications configuration tool.

For more information about alert notifications, see Understanding alert notifications.

Note

  • To open the Alert Notifications configuration tool, click Change Alert Notifications in the Monitoring and Reporting snap-in in Server Management.