Introduction

The network administrator s daily tasks can be made easy or difficut depending on the number and quality of administrative tools they have available for performing those tasks. In Windows Server 2003, Microsoft provides administrators with a wealth of graphical and command-line utilities for carrying out their job duties. (Appendix A provides a detailed listing of some of those utilities.) The Administrative Tools menu contains predefined management consoles for configuring and managing most of Windows Server 2003 s services and components, including Active Directory tools, Domain Name System (DNS) tools, Security policies, Licensing, Routing and Remote Access, Terminal Services, Media Services, and more. Administrators can also create customized Microsoft Management Consoles (MMCs), that makes it easier to perform tasks and delegate administrative tasks to others. Network administrators can create consoles for specific purposes and enable only limited user access to them. For those who prefer the power and flexibility of the command-line utilities, many of these same administrative tasks can be performed, as well as other tasks that have no graphical user interface (GUI) interface. Windows Server 2003 includes a large number of command-line utilities, including dozens of new ones that were not included in Windows 2000 Server.

But what does the network administrator do when they cannot physically access a server to perform their required administrative tasks? Microsoft provides a wealth of remote administrative tools (and tools that have the ability to connect to remote servers). This chapter examines the general types of management tools that are available for keeping...