Performing Surface Area Configuration by Using Policy-Based Management

Surface area reduction is a security measure that involves stopping or disabling unused components. Surface area reduction helps improve security by providing fewer avenues for potential attacks on a system.

To perform surface area reduction, you can use both SQL Server Configuration Manager and Policy-Based Management. Policy-Based Management can help you evaluate and enforce recommended settings for surface area configuration within the Database Engine, Analysis Services and Reporting Services.

For information about how to perform surface area reduction, see Understanding Surface Area Configuration.

You can use the Surface Area Configuration best practices policies to verify your settings. For information about these policies, see Surface Area Configuration Policies.