Assessing and Managing Resource Use

In Server Manager , use the Properties command to display a summary of connections and resource usage for the selected computer.

The Properties dialog box displays a usage summary for the computer.

Item	Description
Sessions	The number of users remotely connected to the computer.
Open Files	The number of shared resources opened on the computer.
File Locks	The number of file locks on open resources of the computer.
Open Named Pipes	The number of named pipes open on the computer.

For each resource use summary that you can view in Server Manager, you can intervene in a user's session with the resource.

To administer a property associated with one of the five buttons at the bottom of the Properties dialog box, click on the button.

Choose	To
Users	View a list of all the users who are connected to the computer over the network and the resources opened by a selected user. One or all of the users can be disconnected.
Shares	View a list of the computer's shared resources and the users who are connected to a selected resource over the network. One or all of the users can be disconnected.
In Use	View a list of the open shared resources on the computer. One resource or all resources can be closed.
Replication	Manage directory replication for the computer and to specify the path to user logon scripts.
Alerts	View and manage the list of users and computers that are notified when administrative alerts occur on the computer.

Viewing or Disconnecting User Sessions

In Server Manager, you can view information about a computer by right- clicking on the computer and selecting Properties. In the Computer Properties dialog box, you can click on buttons to view users, shares, current remote connections, replication import and export servers, and to send administrative alerts.

Click on the Users button in the Computer Properties dialog box to view all users connected (over the network) to the computer and the resources opened by a selected user. To display the User Sessions dialog box, double-click on a computer name in the Server Manager window and then click on Users.

In the User Sessions dialog box, you can disconnect individual or multiple users.




	CAUTION: To prevent data loss, always warn users before disconnecting them. (See "Sending a Message to Users" later in this chapter.)




	NOTE: While you are administering another computer remotely, your user account is listed as a user connected to the IPC$ resource. It cannot be disconnected.

For more information about viewing user sessions, see "Managing Server Properties" and "Viewing User Sessions" in Server Manager Help.

Viewing or Disconnecting Shared Resources

Use the Shared Resources dialog box to view the shared resources available on the selected computer (view the properties for the computer, and click on Shares). You can see users who are connected over the network to a selected resource, and you can disconnect one or all users.




	NOTE: While you are administering another computer remotely, your user account is listed as a connected user for the IPC$ share. It cannot be disconnected.

When you disconnect a selected user from shared resources or disconnect all users from shared resources, each user is disconnected from all shared resources on the computer, not just the resource shown in the Sharename list.




	CAUTION: To prevent data loss, always warn users before disconnecting them. (See "Sending a Message to Users" later in this chapter.)

For more information about viewing shared resources, see "Viewing Shared Resources" in Server Manager Help.

Viewing or Closing Resources In Use

You can view the list of resources that are open on a computer, close a single resource, or close all resources. When you close a resource, you disconnect the users who are connected.

Use the Open Resources dialog box to view and close resources (view the properties for the computer, and click on In Use).

Item	Description
Open Resources	The total number of open resources on the computer.
File Locks	The total number of file locks on open resources.
Opened By	The user name (or sometimes the computer name) of the user who opened the resource.
For	The permission granted when the resource was opened.
Locks	The number of locks on the resource.
Path	The path of the open resource.

In some cases, a print job is monitored as an open named pipe.




	NOTE: While you are administering another computer remotely, your connection is displayed in the Open Resources dialog box as an open named pipe. It cannot be closed.

For more information about viewing resources, see "Viewing Resources In Use" in Server Manager Help.

Sending a Message to Users

A message can be sent to all users who are connected to a computer using the Send Message command on the Computer menu in Server Manager. For example, you can do this before you disconnect one or more users or before you stop the Server service on that computer.

For a message to be sent and received, the Messenger service must be running on the computer sending the message and on the computers receiving the message.

For more information about sending messages, see "Sending a Message to Connected Users" in Server Manager Help.

Managing Administrative Alerts

The Alerts dialog box displays and manages the list of users and computers that are notified when administrative alerts occur at a selected computer.

Administrative alerts are generated by the system and relate to server and resource use. They warn about security and access problems, user session problems, server shutdown because of power loss when the UPS service is available, and printer problems.

For alerts to be sent, the Alerter and Messenger services must be running on the computer originating the alert. For alerts to be received, the Messenger service must be running on the destination computer.

For more information, see "Managing Administrative Alerts," "Starting and Stopping Services," and "Configuring Service Startup" in Server Manager Help.

Auditing Resource Use

Auditing files and directories on a server provides a history of their use. You can identify who took various types of actions with the files and directories and hold those users accountable for their actions. You also can audit printers.

The audit category File and Object Access creates a security event log entry each time a user in the audit list performs one of following actions:

Accesses a directory or file that is set for auditing.
Uses a printer that is connected to a computer whose directories and files are being audited.

You can audit successful or failed actions, or both.

For information about auditing printers, see Chapter 6, "Setting Up Print Servers."

For information about auditing files and directories, see Chapter 7, "Monitoring Events."

For information about how to audit files and directories, see "To audit a file or directory" and "To remove file or directory auditing for a group or user" in Windows NT Help.

Protecting Against Viruses

Viruses are programs that attempt to spread from computer to computer and either cause damage by erasing or corrupting data or annoy users by printing messages or altering what is displayed on the screen.

By taking the following precautions, you may prevent intrusions by viruses.

Educate your network users. Few realize that they unwittingly can bring viruses into the network by loading a program from a source such as an online bulletin board.
Have at least one commercial virus-detection program and use it to regularly to check your file servers for viruses. If possible, you also should make virus- detection software available to your users.
Set file permissions to make all applications available on network Read and Execute only, thereby preventing them from being replaced by viruses.
Before putting a new application or file on the network, put it on a computer not attached to the network, and check it with your virus-detection software. You also may want to log on to this computer using an account with only guest access to the computer so that the program being tested will have only guest permissions and be unable to modify any files.
Regularly back up the files on your file servers so that damage is minimized if a virus attack does occur.

Assessing and Managing Resource Use

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