Examples: Determining Remote Management Requirements

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Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

As you evaluate your needs for remote management, you develop a list of requirements. These requirements determine which tools and out-of-band configurations are most appropriate for your environment. The following descriptions illustrate three different types of remote management requirements and the level of remote management support appropriate to each. The tools and configurations appropriate to these levels of remote management are described later in this chapter.

Minimal Remote Management

You need minimal support for remote management if you have requirements such as the following:

  • The site has few servers and those servers are located close together.

  • The servers have low availability requirements.

  • Experienced on-site technicians are typically available.

  • Some routine management tasks are performed centrally.

An example business situation with minimal requirements for remote management might be a branch office that has a single, or just a few, servers running Windows Server 2003. The servers are primarily file and print servers and have low availability requirements. The branch has some on-site support available.

In this situation, on-site technicians perform most administrative tasks locally, but centrally located administrators perform some routine in-band tasks remotely over the network, such as changing a static IP address or other configuration settings,

Moderate Remote Management

You need moderate support for remote management if you have requirements such as the following:

  • The site has many servers.

  • The servers have availability requirements that range from low to high.

  • Experienced on-site technicians are typically available to perform out-of-band tasks for servers with low to medium availability requirements.

  • Many routine management tasks can be performed efficiently by using in-band remote management tools.

A situation with moderate requirements for remote management might be a data center that has many computers, some of which are legacy systems that do not support Emergency Management Services.

In this situation, the organization plans to supplement existing systems with out-of-band hardware components in order to perform some out-of-band management tasks remotely, even though the computers are not built for Emergency Management Services.

Administrators use in-band remote management tools for the systems in the data center. They use out-of-band management for some systems that have high availability requirements, but not for others that do not have such requirements. For example, the print servers are very reliable, so the organization decided it was not cost effective to support out-of-band management for these servers.

Maximum Remote Management

You need maximum support for remote management if you have requirements such as the following:

  • The servers have high availability requirements.

  • You need to perform a number of out-of-band tasks remotely.

  • The servers are remotely administered.

A situation with maximum requirements for remote management might exist when a group of computers has very high availability requirements. These computers support remote administration and have built-in service processors. They are mounted in racks in a highly secured room.

Administrators go into the highly secured room only when they add or replace hardware. All other administrative tasks are performed remotely, by using an in-band connection when possible and by using an out-of-band connection when a server cannot be accessed through the standard network. The Windows Server 2003 operating system is installed on these computers remotely by using RIS.