70-291: MCSE Guide to Managing a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Network Chapter 14: Troubleshooting Windows Server 2003 Networks

70-291: MCSE Guide to Managing a Microsoft Windows Server Network 2 Objectives Outline the maintenance cycle Understand common troubleshooting methodology Use common Windows Server 2003 tools to troubleshoot server and network problems Describe the common network connectivity problems and their solutions

70-291: MCSE Guide to Managing a Microsoft Windows Server Network 3 Troubleshooting Methodology Maintaining system integrity includes monitoring, proactive maintenance, and reactive maintenance Monitoring: examining network connectivity, viewing log files and running performance utilities periodically Proactive maintenance: taking the necessary steps to minimize the chance of future problems Reactive maintenance: to correct problems when they arise during monitoring

70-291: MCSE Guide to Managing a Microsoft Windows Server Network 4 Troubleshooting Methodology (continued) Reactive maintenance composed of many procedures known as troubleshooting procedures Two golden rules that should guide you during any troubleshooting process: Prioritize problems Try to solve the root of the problem

70-291: MCSE Guide to Managing a Microsoft Windows Server Network 5 Troubleshooting Methodology (continued)

70-291: MCSE Guide to Managing a Microsoft Windows Server Network 6 Troubleshooting Methodology (continued)

70-291: MCSE Guide to Managing a Microsoft Windows Server Network 7 Troubleshooting Tools Most common tools include: Network Monitor System Monitor Performance Logs and Alerts Event Viewer Task Manager Services snap-in

70-291: MCSE Guide to Managing a Microsoft Windows Server Network 8 Network Monitor Used to view and log network activity Two main components: Network Monitor Network Monitor driver Version of Network Monitor included with Windows Server 2003 is only designed to capture data at the computer’s local network interface

70-291: MCSE Guide to Managing a Microsoft Windows Server Network 9 System Monitor One of the most useful tools for collecting data on real-time server performance Collects data that you can use for the following tasks: Server performance Problem diagnosis Capacity planning Testing Information captured can be displayed with a: Graph Histogram Report

70-291: MCSE Guide to Managing a Microsoft Windows Server Network 10 System Monitor (continued)

70-291: MCSE Guide to Managing a Microsoft Windows Server Network 11 Performance Logs and Alerts Allows for the automatic collection of data on the local computer or from another computer on the network Allows you to perform the following tasks: Collect data in binary, comma-separated, or tab-separated format View data while being collected and after collection Configure and manage multiple logging sessions from a single console window Set up alerts

70-291: MCSE Guide to Managing a Microsoft Windows Server Network 12 Performance Logs and Alerts (continued) Three options available: Counter logs Trace Logs Alerts Counter logs take information from System Monitor and save it to a log file Trace logs are triggered to start when an event occurs Alerts are used to configure an event to occur when a counter meets a predefined value

70-291: MCSE Guide to Managing a Microsoft Windows Server Network 13 Performance Logs and Alerts (continued)

70-291: MCSE Guide to Managing a Microsoft Windows Server Network 14 Performance Logs and Alerts (continued)

70-291: MCSE Guide to Managing a Microsoft Windows Server Network 15 Event Viewer Most common and effective monitoring and troubleshooting tool Used to gather information and troubleshoot services, hardware, and system problems Three log files: Application log Security log System log The system log can only be viewed by administrators and those users with appropriate permissions

70-291: MCSE Guide to Managing a Microsoft Windows Server Network 16 Event Viewer (continued)

70-291: MCSE Guide to Managing a Microsoft Windows Server Network 17 Event Viewer (continued)

70-291: MCSE Guide to Managing a Microsoft Windows Server Network 18 Task Manager Provides one of the fastest ways to check server and network performance and to determine what processes are running on the system Consists of five different tabs: Applications Processes Performance Networking Users

70-291: MCSE Guide to Managing a Microsoft Windows Server Network 19 Task Manager (continued)

70-291: MCSE Guide to Managing a Microsoft Windows Server Network 20 Task Manager (continued)

70-291: MCSE Guide to Managing a Microsoft Windows Server Network 21 Services Snap-in Always disable any unnecessary components such as services Disabling services also frees computing resources Properties of a service include four different configuration tabs: General Log On Recovery Dependencies

70-291: MCSE Guide to Managing a Microsoft Windows Server Network 22 Services Snap-in (continued)

70-291: MCSE Guide to Managing a Microsoft Windows Server Network 23 Services Snap-in (continued)

70-291: MCSE Guide to Managing a Microsoft Windows Server Network 24 Services Snap-in (continued)

70-291: MCSE Guide to Managing a Microsoft Windows Server Network 25 Troubleshooting Network Connectivity Requires a broad knowledge of several network concepts in order to solve a problem Common problems include: Computer cannot access resources on the local network Computer cannot access the Internet or a remote network but can communicate locally A computer cannot access resources on the local network using name resolution A computer cannot access remote resources

70-291: MCSE Guide to Managing a Microsoft Windows Server Network 26 Summary Network administrators monitor the network and servers on a regular basis and perform proactive and reactive maintenances Common troubleshooting procedures involve Collecting data to determine the cause of system problems Implementing and testing solutions Network Monitor gathers information about network performance The Performance console uses System Monitor and Performance Logs and Alerts to monitor server health

70-291: MCSE Guide to Managing a Microsoft Windows Server Network 27 Summary (continued) You can configure alerts for specific objects and counters You can use Event Viewer to view the contents of the system logs, application logs, and security logs Task Manager provides information on processes and applications running on a system When optimizing the performance of your computer, use the Services icon to disable any unnecessary services to eliminate overhead