| We are frequently involved in projects with small and | | | | The simplest way to overcome the problem is to |
| medium sized organisations. Due to the size of these | | | | create a batch file to restart the server, to do this: |
| organisations often the network infrastructure | | | | 1. Open Notepad (or another text editor) |
| available is limited as a result of smaller budgets than | | | | 2. Type: shutdown -r -t 5 |
| their larger competitors. One side effect of this | | | | 3. Save the file somewhere sensible (such as the |
| reduced budget is that our clients sometimes need | | | | desktop) with a name such as restart.bat, the |
| hardware and software to function in ways it is not | | | | important thing is it ends with the extension of .bat |
| exactly designed for. | | | | To run the file just double click it, the switches in the |
| One example of this is often not being able to afford | | | | shutdown command are: |
| the licence fee for Windows Server and instead to | | | | -r = restart (instead of shutdown) |
| use Windows XP Professional or even Windows XP | | | | -t 5 = the amount of time to wait before restarting |
| Home to run a central file, print or database server. | | | | in seconds - in this case 5 secs. |
| Clearly this approach would not work for a Microsoft | | | | The second issue is that terminal services |
| Active Directory Domain Controller but can be used | | | | functionality available to facilitate remote |
| for many other types of server and there are times | | | | administration through tools such as RDP is only |
| where there is no other option. | | | | sufficient to allow one user to log on at a time. This |
| There are two usability downsides to be aware of | | | | can cause problems if you use it as a development |
| for remote administration when taking the decision to | | | | server for example, but as a file store it is unlikely |
| use Microsoft Windows XP instead of Windows | | | | you want more than one or two administrators - |
| Server. | | | | with a small number they can manage the situation |
| The first is that Windows XP Professional when | | | | by phone calls. |
| accessed through Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) | | | | Techita would advise wherever possible to use the |
| connections does not display a log off button or a | | | | version of operating system designed for the role |
| reset option on the shutdown - the only option is to | | | | you intend the server to perform, however when |
| shut down the server which is not ideal and will mean | | | | this is just not possible this tip may make the |
| that it won't restart afterwards; this can be solved. | | | | management that little bit simpler. |