Shutdown Event Tracker Best practices
Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2
Best practices
Plan to use Shutdown Event Tracker as a best practice.
You can use the data provided by Shutdown Event Tracker to create a more complete picture of your system environment. For more information, see Shutdown Event Tracker overview.
To identify patterns of system restarts and shutdowns, review the event logs in Event Viewer on a regular basis. This information serves as a starting point for isolating system problems. For more information, see Event Viewer.
To create a record of which system resources reached or exceeded their limits just before an unplanned shutdown, use the System State Data feature. When you decide to restart a server running a Windows Server 2003 family operating system, and you select an unplanned reason for doing so, this feature records information about each process, page file, and disk running on the system. It also records data on overall system usage. You can opt to send this information in a System State Data file to Microsoft using the error reporting functionality in the Windows Server 2003 family of operating systems. For more information, see Configure the System State Data feature on your local computer, Configure the System State Data feature on a domain or organizational unit, and Enable notification and reporting of unplanned shutdowns on your local computer. To access Microsoft's privacy policy on error reporting, see Shutdown Event Tracker Resources.
Consider security when assigning shutdown user rights.
- In addition to physically securing your server, use Active Directory to uniformly assign shutdown user rights to trusted users. For guidance, see the Access control overview and Best practices for security for security.
Use standard reasons instead of custom reasons.
- Using the standard restart and shutdown reasons provided by Microsoft enables you to remotely browse event logs, and to use automated tools that will be available. in the future. In addition, using predefined reasons is a simpler approach than defining your own reasons. For guidance on how to define custom reasons, as well as a comprehensive list of the standard reasons, see "Tools for Troubleshooting" at the Microsoft Windows Resource Kits Web site.
Establish guidelines across your organization for choosing reasons and making comments.
Users should consistently use the restart and shutdown reasons displayed in the graphical user interface (GUI) to ensure the validity of the data collected. As a system administrator, you should establish and communicate specific guidelines for using each reason. You should also provide standards for information that users type in the Comment box, including when a comment is required, what information it should contain, and what form that information should take.
For example, you may want to establish guidelines such as these:
If installing new software involves restarting a computer, use the reason Application: Installation (Planned). Always supply the name of the new software in the Comment box.
If repairing hardware forces you to immediately restart or shut down a computer, use the reason Hardware: Maintenance (Unplanned). Always supply the name of the hardware in the Comment box.