Administration

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Different organizations have different needs. Software developers try to meet these needs by designing systems and application software that expose myriad configuration settings. These multiple options overwhelm most users and system administrators. The problem is compounded by the fact that most systems consist of many computers networked together. In addition, the person with the expertise to configure a machine is usually not physically sitting in front of it, causing that machine to have prolonged downtime.

Server applications in particular usually run on computers that live in rooms that are basically closets, so your server software should be capable of being remotely administered. In other words, an administrator should be able to have one machine start and stop the execution of your service while she sits at another machine. The administrator should also be able to configure your server's numerous settings remotely.

From a server's perspective, your service might need to communicate information to the administrator. For example, you might want your server to report the number of clients connected and the amount of time required to process the average client request. Your server might also need to report exceptional events such as low disk space or an attempted security breach.

Microsoft has added a lot of infrastructure to Windows to make remote administration easy. The Service Control Manager (or SCM, pronounced "scum") can control a service's execution. The registry is used for storing a server's configuration settings. The performance-monitoring facility allows a server to report run-time statistics, and the event log database allows a server to notify an administrator of exceptional events. All these facilities have programmatic interfaces and can be accessed remotely. The proper use of these facilities will make an administrator's life easier. Each facility is discussed in this book.

The Microsoft Management Console (MMC) is a tool implemented in MMC.exe that provides one-stop shopping for the system administrator. It integrates access into the various components of the system, including installed services. You should also be able to configure your service via the MMC.