Evaluating Remote Management Needs

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

To implement an efficient, cost effective, secure remote management plan, you need to determine which servers to manage remotely by considering the tradeoffs — including cost, convenience, and system availability — for various ways of managing the servers in your environment. Before you decide whether or what to manage remotely, you need to evaluate remote and local management, and in-band and out-of-band management.

With Windows Server 2003, you can choose to remotely perform server management tasks that previously could be done only locally. By using Emergency Management Services with the appropriate hardware and software tools, you can remotely perform almost everything except hardware installation. When considering this type of solution, you need to weigh the level of support provided by the solution against the possible need to use legacy hardware. You might need to make a compromise between the level of support you want and the cost of additional hardware. You might also want to evaluate the savings you can obtain by configuring some of your servers for remote administration.

The first step in developing a remote management plan is to determine which servers in your environment need to be managed remotely. Figure 5.2 illustrates the place of this step in the planning process.

Figure 5.2   Evaluating Your Remote Management Needs