Hi gang - I am Harry Brlesford and the author of Windows Small
Business SErver 2003 Best Practices. I am posting up my book - a
bit each day! My background and more about me at
www.smbnation.com. Read on!
Check the Network
Has the cabling been properly attached
to the hub? Perhaps this was a task that you assigned to the
cabling specialist who installed the cabling at your site. If it
hasn’t been done, do that now.
To verify the fitness of your network,
you must perform the “green light” test. After
everything has been plugged in properly to the network, including
the network hub, do the following:
1
; Turn on
the network hub.
2
; Briefly
turn on the server computer.
3
; Observe
whether a port light on the hub turns on. (This typically
illuminates as the color green).
4
; Observe
whether the network adapter card connection light on the back of
the server illuminates. (Again, typically green).
5
; If you
see green lights at both the hub and network adapter
connection, you’re green lighting!
Perform Server Quick Tests
So you’ve put the computer
together and connected it to the network. Now is the time to turn
on the computer for a few moments to see whether the BIOS
information is correctly displayed on the screen during the power
on startup test. (This is called POST and is a term used in the
technology community). This quick-and-dirty test is important for
several reasons. It will check:
•
; Video card — If you see no information displayed on
the computer monitor, it is possible that the video card has
failed. Such was the case during an SBS class I once taught. Not
only was the computer unusable for the SBS class, but valuable
time was wasted trying to determine exactly what the problem was.
At first and second blush, it wasn’t entirely clear that
the video card had failed, as this type of problem can disguise
itself.
•
; Component attachment — Did you know that if a
ribbon cable between the computer motherboard and floppy drive is
incorrectly attached, the computer might fail to start, leaving
you with only the sound of a failed start up: three quick beeps?
This is but one example of how incorrectly configured internal
components in your server can prevent you from having
success with your computer. These are exactly the type of issues
that you want to catch immediately, before you try to install
SBS.
•
; Hidden partition server tools — First, of all,
let’s just get this out in the open. SBS 2003 works fine
with hidden system partitions (you may recall SBS 4.5 had a
distinct problem with this, requiring you to delete the hidden
system partition). Now for the next point. Starting up the
computer also allows you to determine whether the computer
manufacturer’s server tools were correctly installed on a
hidden partition on the hard disk. When manufacturers ship
their servers to you, they might or might not install their
server tools (e.g., HP/Compaq’s SmartStart). Typically, the
paperwork received with the server remains unclear on this point.
The best way to test that is to look for language at
the top of
the screen during machine startup. In the case of an HP/ Compaq
server, such language instructs you to hit the F10 key to launch
SmartStart.
BEST PRACTICE: If the
manufacturer’s server tool hasn’t been installed to a
hidden partition on the server, it is essential that you do this
now. Failure to do this at this point would mean that you would
forever be prevented from installing these wonderful and helpful
tools designed to configure and manage your server. That’s
because after the operating system and SBS are installed, you
cannot go back and install the manufacturer’s server tools
on a hidden partition.
To install the manufacturer’s
server tools on your system, be sure to follow the setup
instructions for the specific tool. In the case of HP/
Compaq’s SmartStart, it is very simple. Because a Compaq
server is designed, by default, to boot from the CD drive, you
simply place the SmartStart CD in the CD drive and restart the
computer. On startup, and with no further fuss, you are presented
with the SmartStart installation screen. Several minutes and one
reboot later, SmartStart is installed on your system. Again,
tools such as SmartStart provide the capability to configure your
server properly, create driver disks, monitor your server’s
health, and so on.
•
BIOS
operation — There is simply no better test to make sure the
computer’s all-important BIOS is functional than to turn on
the machine and observe that the BIOS information (copyright,
date, storage device configuration, and so on) is displayed
on the screen. Common BIOS names are American Megatrends and
Phoenix.
BEST PRACTICE:
It is very common for BIOS manufacturers to release upgrades
shortly after the original BIOS has been shipped to market. These
upgrades typically consist of bug fixes and the like. So consider
downloading the BIOS upgrade and prepare to install or flash the
BIOS upgrade. But be extremely careful about applying a BIOS
upgrade to your server. If you’ve applied the
incorrect BIOS version to your server, the server can be rendered
inoperable or become unreliable. See the BIOS discussion on
upgrades, installation, and flashing at your BIOS
manufacturer’s home page. And if you are at all
uncomfortable with this, consider hiring a qualified technician
or consultant to research and implement a BIOS upgrade for your
server.
•
Operating
system status — By performing the quick power-up test, you
can determine whether any operating system has been installed on
the computer. It is common for clone-makers to both format and
SYS (apply basic MS-DOS files) the primary drive (C: drive) of
the server. If no operating system has been installed, you will
see a character-based error message that indicates the operating
system is missing. If you purchased a name-brand server and
elected to have SBS preinstalled (OEM style!) as discussed in
Chapter 2, you will notice the SBS setup process launches after
the initial POST phase terminates.
BEST PRACTICE: Note that in the SBS
2000 time frame, I recommend running the Windows 2000 Readiness
Analyzer Tool. I’ve searched high and low in the SBS 2003
time frame and haven’t found a like tool to recommend for
you to run. Perhaps your guide for “readiness” should
be the Windows Server 2003 logo on your components. This
signifies the component has been tested to work with Windows
Server 2003.
Notes:
And no
discussion about assessment and fitness is complete without
pulling out a third-party tool. I’ve used CheckIt
Professional Edition, a relatively low-cost computer assessment
application from SmithMicro Software. For more information, visit
www.smithmicro.com. This is shown in Figure 3-1.
Figure 3-1
CheckIt is a long-standing favorite
of technicians to peer inside their systems. It’s been
around for years and is now owned by SmithMicro Software.
