Server Maintenance Overview

Study Notes

Server maintenance is a regular practice to keep servers updated and running efficiently. This prevents downtime or failures.

Preventive Maintenance: Routine checks and updates to identify and fix potential issues before they cause problems.
Corrective Maintenance: Actions taken to correct issues that arise during server operation.
Predictive Maintenance: Using monitoring tools to predict when a server component might fail or performance may degrade, allowing maintenance to be done ahead of failure.
Emergency Maintenance: Urgent repairs needed when unexpected server problems arise, such as a security breach or hardware failure.

A server maintenance plan is a documented strategy outlining regular maintenance tasks to ensure optimal server performance.

Scheduled Backups: Regular backups are key for data recovery in case of server failure or loss. They should be daily, weekly, or monthly.
Regular Software Updates: Keeping server software up-to-date, including the operating system, applications, and security patches.
Hardware Checks: Regular inspection of hardware components like hard drives, fans, and power supplies to prevent overheating, failures, or damage.
Security Audits: Regularly reviewing and updating security configurations, applying security patches, monitoring for suspicious activity.
Performance Monitoring: Continuous checks of server performance, including CPU usage, memory utilization, and disk space to identify bottlenecks.
Disaster Recovery Plan: A plan for recovering data and restoring server functionality in case of an outage or disaster.
Testing and Reporting: Testing server performance and documenting any issues found. This helps to improve maintenance in the future.

Applying Updates and Patches: Using Windows Update for installing security patches, bug fixes, and feature updates regularly.
Monitoring System Performance: Checking CPU, memory, disk, and network usage with tools like Task Manager, Performance Monitor, or Resource Monitor.
Disk Space Management: Regularly checking available disk space and cleaning up unnecessary files using tools like Disk Cleanup.
Backup and Recovery Planning: Using Windows Server Backup to schedule regular backups.
Managing Active Directory (AD): Regularly reviewing Active Directory user accounts, permissions, and group policies.
Checking Event Logs: Using Event Viewer to monitor logs for errors, warnings, or security events.
Ensuring Security: Applying Group Policies, reviewing firewall settings, and ensuring antivirus/antimalware software is up-to-date and running.
Maintaining Roles and Features: Reviewing and configuring Windows Server roles and features such as DNS, DHCP, IIS, and file services.
Performing Security Audits: Regularly auditing server security policies, user access controls, and firewall rules.
Checking System Health: Using tools like Windows Admin Center or System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) to get a holistic view of server health.