CNT 4603: System Administration

Fall 2024

Inside Microsoft Server Manager – Part 1

Instructor : Dr. Mark Llewellyn

[email protected]
HEC 236, 407-823-2790
Office Hours via Zoom: M, T, & W 4:00-5:00pm, Th 3:30-4:20pm
Office Hours Zoom Details: Meeting ID: 954 6348 6621
Passcode: 076605
Q&A Sessions via Zoom: Times announced via WebCourses
Q&A Sessions Zoom Details: Meeting ID: 918 0445 6639
Passcode: 300765
Department of Computer Science
University of Central Florida

CNT 4603: Inside Microsoft Server Manager – Part 1 Page 1 Dr. Mark Llewellyn ©
 Inside Microsoft Server Manager
• With an operating system as large, complex, and functionally
rich as Windows Server 2022, the OS is only as good as the
tools available to expose this functionality, configure it, and
manage it on a day to day basis.
• By now you are somewhat familiar with the process necessary
to install Server 2022 as you should have done this in your
virtual environment a few times by now. Soon you will
become familiar with installing and configuring server roles as
well.
• This set of notes will examine in some detail the Server
Manager and the functionality it provides a system
administrator for managing and maintaining a Server 2022
environment.
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 Inside Microsoft Server Manager
• The Server Manager is the biggest factor in effectively
managing a Windows Server 2022 environment.
• The Server Manager brings together into one management tool
the entire process of managing a server operating system.
• The Server Manager interface is designed around the
functionality the server provides, instead of being designed
around the individual components.
• While we are focusing on Server 2022, much of what we detail
will also apply to Server 2019 and to a lesser extent Server
2016. Earlier variants of the OS have little in common with
Server 2022 and 2019.

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 Inside Microsoft Server Manager
• The guiding principle in the design of Server Manager was
how system administrators think about their servers.
• If you ask a system administrator to show you their server
room, they don’t point to “my Windows Server 2022 box, my
Windows Server 2019 box, and my Ubuntu box.” Instead,
they say “that’s my domain controller, that’s my file server,
and that’s my print server.”
• System administrators think of servers by their role, or what
they do, and not by the server operating system.
• Window Server Manager is designed to work the same way.

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 Inside Microsoft Server Manager
• Windows Server Manager works by having the server running
both roles, which are the major services the server offers along
with features that help the server perform its main role
purpose.
• For example, Windows Backup is a feature, as it helps keep a
server maintained by providing backup and recovery
capabilities.
• During your previous installs of Windows Server 2022 you
utilized the ICT (Initial Configuration Tasks) interface, and
this causes the Server Manager to automatically run and
launch at each Administrator logon. To refresh your memory,
a screen shot of the Server Manager screen you see at logon is
shown on the next page.
CNT 4603: Inside Microsoft Server Manager – Part 1 Page 5 Dr. Mark Llewellyn ©
 Inside Microsoft Server Manager

A Server 2022 instance

with only basic file and
storage services roles
installed.

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 Server with AD
DS and DNS
roles installed.

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 Inside Microsoft Server Manager
• Let’s take a closer look at some of the main features of the Server
Manager.

• When the Server Manager is launched, initially it runs as a two-pane

Microsoft Management Console (MMC) environment with the
Console/Navigation tree pane (left pane) and the Details pane (right
main pane) as shown on the previous page.

• The Console tree pane breaks the functionality of the Server

Manager into areas that cover the local server and all other servers,
plus areas that cover server roles which have been installed.

• Notice the differences in the next two screenshots which illustrate

the Server Manager main screen on first a non-domain server and
secondly on a domain controllers server.

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 Console/Navigation
pane Details pane

Non-domain
server

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 Console/Navigation
pane Details pane

A domain
controller

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 Inside Microsoft Server Manager
• The Properties area provides details on the fully qualified
domain name of the computer if it is part of a domain, or just
the NetBIOS name if it is only in a workgroup.
• The domain or workgroup that the server is joined to is
displayed , along with the network adapters in the server and
the IP address information for both IPv4 and IPv6.
• The ability to change any of this information is provided by
the links to the right of the displayed information. These links
are to control panel applets that enable the configuration of the
displayed attributes.

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 Inside Microsoft Server Manager
• Properties. This area is a summary of the local server’s primary properties such
as name, workgroup, OS, and hardware information.

• Events. This area is a summary of the recent events that were logged on the
local server.

• Services. This area is a summary of the services installed on the local server and
their current status.

• Best Practices Analyzer. This area is a summary of the local server and if it is
performing according to best practice standards.

• Performance. This area is a summary of the local server performance during the
past 24 hours.

• Roles and Features. Enables the administrator to install, remove, and manage
roles and features for the server.

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 Inside Microsoft Server Manager
Properties area – on a domain controller

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 Properties area – on a standard server (not a domain controller)

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 Events area

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 Click on an event in the
list and below a window
will appear providing
more details about the
highlighted event.

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 Services area – All registered services with status. Clicking a
service in the listing will allow you to control the service, as
shown.

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 Best Practices Analyzer area – A general BPA scan result shown.

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 Click on highlighted
warning/error to
resolve to a best
practice.

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 From the Task option select Click
“Configure Performance Alerts” in
the Tasks menu, then configure as
shown on next slide.

Performance Analyzer area

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 Configure the performance alert.
Click Save. Then turn on the
performance counter.

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 Turn on the performance counter by
clicking the performance alert and
starting the counter..

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 Performance counter is collecting data.

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 Roles and Features area – on a domain controller

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 Roles and Features area – on a standard server

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 Inside Microsoft Server Manager
• Notice on the next page, that the server shown has had recent
updates to Windows Server 2022 recently installed (today
actually).
• Update history is part of the security of the installed OS.

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 Notice that updates
were last checked and
installed today on this
server.

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 Update history on
this server.

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 Tools available on a
domain controller.

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 Tools available on a
standard server.

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 Tools available from
the help menu.

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 Right click on a highlighted service to be
able to control that service from the
Server Manager console.

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 File and Storage Services – detailed panes

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