Overview of the Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials Dashboard

Published: April 26, 2010

Updated: March 30, 2011

Applies To: Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials

Windows SBS 2011 Essentials includes an administrative dashboard, which simplifies the tasks that you perform to manage your Windows SBS 2011 Essentials network and server. By using the Windows SBS 2011 Essentials Dashboard, you can:

• Finish setting up your server.

• Access and perform common administrative tasks.

• View server alerts and take action on them.

• Set up and change server settings.

• Access or search for Help topics on the Web.

• Access Community resources on the Web.

• Manage user accounts.

• Manage computers and backups.

• Manage access and settings for shared folders and hard drives.

• View and manage Add-ins.

This topic describes:

• Design features of the Dashboard

• Administrative features of the Dashboard

Design features of the Dashboard

The Windows SBS 2011 Essentials Dashboard helps you to quickly access the key information and management features of your server. The Dashboard includes several sections as depicted in Figure 1. The table that follows the image describes the sections.

Figure 1

Item	Dashboard Section	Description
1	Navigation Bar	Click an icon on the Navigation Bar to access the information and tasks that are associated with that feature. Each time you open the Dashboard, the Home page appears by default.
2	Information and Settings	This section provides quick access to information about current server alerts. The section also provides direct access to the server settings, and a Help link to information about the dashboard page that you are viewing.
3	Page Tabs	The page tabs provide access to a second layer of Windows SBS 2011 Essentials administrative tasks.
4	List View	The list view displays the objects that you can manage, and includes basic information about each object.
5	Task Pane	The Task Pane contains links to tools and to information that help you manage the properties for either a specific object (such as a user account or a computer), or for global settings for the object category. The Task Pane is divided into these two sections: Object tasks – Contains links to tools and information that help you manage the properties for an object that you select in the list view (such as a user account or a computer). Global tasks – Contains links to tools and information that help you manage global tasks for a feature area. Global tasks include tasks to add new objects, set policy, and so on.
6	Details Pane	The details pane displays additional information about an object that you select in the list view.
7	Status Bar	The status bar displays the number of objects that appear in the list view.

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Administrative features of the Dashboard

The Windows SBS 2011 Essentials Dashboard organizes network information and administrative tasks into functional areas. Each functional area provides information about the objects associated with that area, for example Users, or Computers. Each functional area also includes tasks that you can use to view or change settings, or to run programs that automate tasks that require multiple steps.

The following table describes the administrative sections of the Dashboard, and lists the tasks that available within each section.

Feature	Description
Home	The Home page appears by default each time that you open the dashboard. It includes sections that help you: Perform Getting Started tasks – Complete these tasks to finish setting up your server. For information about the Getting Started Tasks, see Completing the Getting Started tasks. Perform common tasks – A short list of common or frequently used tasks. Search for help on the Web – Type a word or phrase to search the product Help and Internet for related topics. Access Community resources on the Web - Communicate online with others about deploying, managing, and troubleshooting your server and network computers.
Users	For users to access the resources available within the Windows SBS 2011 Essentials, you need to create user accounts by using the Windows SBS 2011 Essentials Dashboard. After creating user accounts, you can manage the accounts by using the tasks that are available on the Users page of the Dashboard. Tasks that you can perform on this page include: View a list of user accounts. View and manage user account properties. Activate or deactivate user accounts. Add or remove user accounts. Reset passwords and manage the password policy. For information about managing user accounts, see Managing user accounts in Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials.
Computers and Backup	After you connect computers to the Windows SBS 2011 Essentials network, you can manage the computers from a central location in the Computers and Backup section of the Dashboard. View a list of computers that are joined to your network. View the computer properties and health alerts for each computer. Set up and manage computer backups. Restore files and folders to computers. For information about managing computers and backups, see Managing Computers and Backup.
Server Folders and Hard Drives	The Server Folders and Hard Drives section of the Windows SBS 2011 Essentials Dashboard contains two pages. The Hard Drives page includes tasks that help you view and check the health of the drives that are attached to the server. From this page you can also add or remove drives from the server storage. The Server Folders page includes tasks that help you view and manage the properties for shared folders. The page also includes tasks to open and add shared folders. For information about managing server folders, see Managing Server Folders in Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials. For information about managing hard drives, see Managing Hard Drives in Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials.
Add-ins	The Add-ins section of the Windows SBS 2011 Essentials Dashboard includes tasks that help you view and manage the Add-ins that are installed on the server. For information about managing add-ins, see Add-in Management in Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials.

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