Defining remote management and monitoring in a small business

Consider monitoring the customer’s Web site as part of your monitoring service. In this way, you could alert the customer when the Web site is not responsive.

To monitor a Web site:

1. Click Health Monitor, and then click All Monitored Computers.
2. Click the server

   name, and then click Health Monitor Sample Monitors.

3. Right-click Network and Web Site Monitors, click New, click Data Collector, and then click HTTP Monitor.
4. In the HTTP Monitor Properties dialog box, set an acceptable threshold for the customer’s Web site.

Configuration

To configure an existing performance monitor to track disk space, carry out the following steps.

1. Log on to the Small Business Server 2000 server computer as the administrator.
2. Click Start, and then click Small Business Server Administrator Console.
3. Expand Health Monitor, and then expand All Monitored Computers.
4. Expand the server name, expand Health Monitor Sample Monitors, expand Windows 2000 Performance Monitors, and then expand Logical and Physical Disks.
5. Expand Logical Disk.
6. Right-click in the Thresholds Pane, and then right-click % Free Space < 10.
7. Click Properties.
8. Under Duration, select the Any time this occurs check box, and then click OK.

The next step in the process is to configure the default e-mail action:

1. Expand Health Monitor, and then expand All Monitored Computers.
2. Click the server name, and then click Actions.
3. Right-click Email , click Properties, and then click the Details tab.
4. In the SMTP Server box, type the full name of your Small Business Server 2000 server (for example, server.nwtraders.com).
5. In the To box, type your e-mail account name (for example, consultant@nwtraders.com), and then click OK.
6. Expand Windows 2000 Performance Monitors, and then right-click Logical and Physical Disk.
7. Click Windows 2000 Performance Monitors Properties, click the Actions tab, and then click New Action Association (the star icon).
8. In the Execute Action Properties dialog box, verify that Email <your e-mail account name> is selected under Action to Execute.
9. Under Execution Condition, click Warning, and then click OK to close the Execute Action Properties dialog box.
10. Click OK again to close the Logical and Physical Disks Properties dialog box.
11. Under Logical and Physical Disks, right-click LogicalDisk, select All Tasks, and then clear the Disabled check box. This enables the performance monitor that you have set.

You have now configured a performance monitor to e-mail you when this customer’s computer falls below 10 percent free disk space at any time. Your screen should look similar to Figure 1 below, where Health Monitor is configured with a 10 percent free disk space threshold under the LogicalDisk performance monitor.

1. Log on to the Small Business Server 2000 server computer as the administrator.
2. Click Start, and then click Small Business Server Administrator Console.
3. Expand Health Monitor, expand All Monitored Computers, and then click the server name.
4. Expand Health Monitor Sample Monitors, and then expand Windows 2000 Performance Monitors.
5. Right-click System, and then click New.
6. Click Data Collector, and then click Performance Monitor. The Details dialog box appears.
7. In the Object area, click Browse, click System (System), and then click OK.
8. In the Counter area, select the Check System Up Time check box.
9. Click the Actions tab, and then click New Action Association (the star icon).
10. In the Execute Action Properties dialog box, verify that Email <your e-mail account name> is selected under Action to Execute, and then click OK to close the System Properties dialog box.
11. Right-click System, click New, and then click Threshold. The Expression dialog box appears.
12. Under If this condition is true, click System Up Time (Real Number). Click Is less than, type 10 in the adjacent field, and then click OK.

You have now created a performance monitor that will alert you when the system up time for the server computer is less than 10 seconds, indicating that it has been restarted.

It is a common practice to forward the e-mail generated by Health Monitor to your pager and/or mobile telephone (many pagers and mobile telephones support e-mail functions) so you can immediately be alerted about your customer’s Small Business Server 2000 networks. In addition to having alerts generated and e-mailed to you, you can use Health Monitor for performance logging. Health Monitor can even be configured to execute an application when a certain threshold is reached. For more information, see the Health Monitor online Help.

Extending Health Monitor

In addition to using the sample performance monitors in Health Monitor, you can extend this tool through customization. A typical customization would be an IT professional who sells a business application, such as Microsoft Great Plains, in addition to Small Business Server 2000. The IT professional could then create critical performance monitors related to the business application in order to monitor it continuously.

Conclusion

Performance monitoring, combined with remote management in Small Business Server 2000, is one of the most compelling business opportunities for the IT professional working with small to medium-sized businesses. You can improve customer service by proactively monitoring Small Business Server 2000 networks and then quickly completing tasks without having to visit the customer site. Your profitability is increased, since you can provide your customers with needed services quickly and efficiently.

As with any set of technology tools, proper use is critical. This paper demonstrates proven business models for the IT professional to use in offering performance monitoring and remote management services for Small Business Server 2000 customers. In addition, it includes specific technical tips on what type of Small Business Server 2000 activity to monitor.