CHAPTER 2 Managing Hardware Devices After reading this chapter and completing the exercises you will be able to Understand the importance of managing hardware Understand the purpose of device drivers Configure hardware resource settings and resolve resource setting conflicts Configure driver signing options Optimize server processor and memory usage Create and configure hardware profiles Configure server power options One key responsibility of any network administrator is managing and maintaining server hardware After installing Windows Server 2003 there may be a number of additional hardware related tasks you need to perform before the server is ready for the production environment Examples include reviewing hardware settings updating device drivers and ensuring that no resource conflicts exist Once a server is deployed hardware also needs to be maintained and changes to individual devices or other updates may be necessary If not managed correctly server hardware problems may lead to a variety of errors and potentially server failure Managing and maintaining server hardware involves a variety of different tasks For example there may be hardware components that were not automatically detected and configured during the Windows Server 2003 installation process Similarly you may need to obtain and update device drivers to ensure the functionality expected under the new operating system When new hardware is added to a server you need to be sure that no resource conflicts exist Although specifications like Plug and Play will allocate resources to devices automatically the manual configuration of legacy hardware may lead to conflicts and by extension the inability of hardware to function correctly As a network administrator it is your job to not only identify but also resolve these conflicts 43 Copyright 2004 by Course Technology All rights reserved This publication is protected by federal copyright law No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior permission in writing from Course Technology Some of the product names and company names have been used for identification purposes only and may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective manufactures and sellers 44 Chapter 2 Managing Hardware Devices Windows Server 2003 supports a variety of new and familiar tools and features to aid in the management and maintenance of server hardware Tools like Device Manager and the Add Hardware Wizard make it easy for an administrator to add manage and monitor server hardware settings Features like driver signing help to ensure the quality of installed drivers while at the same time promoting server stability The new Roll Back Driver feature allows an administrator to quickly return to a previous driver version if an update causes unexpected problems Similar to Windows 2000 Windows Server 2003 continues to support the configuration of power management settings and the use of hardware profiles Each of these features along with processor and memory optimization techniques is looked at in detail throughout this chapter Introduction to Managing Hardware Managing and maintaining server hardware is a key responsibility of any network administrator Windows Server 2003 supports a wide variety of both internal and external hardware components that you should be familiar with Examples of internal hardware components include network adapter cards and disk drives while external components are typically peripheral devices like a Universal Serial Bus USB mouse or printer The following list outlines the more common internal and external hardware devices that need to be managed and maintained on a Windows Server 2003 system Disk drives CD ROM DVD ROM drives Modem Network adapter cards Video adapter cards Printers and scanners Keyboard Mouse USB devices IEEE 1394 FireWire devices The following sections provide more detail about Windows Server 2003 hardware compatibility the functions of device drivers and an introduction to Device Manager the primary tool used to manage hardware on a Windows Server 2003 system Copyright 2004 by Course Technology All rights reserved This publication is protected by federal copyright law No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior permission in writing from Course Technology Some of the product names and company names have been used for identification purposes only and may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective manufactures and sellers Introduction to Managing Hardware 45 Hardware Compatibility Your Windows Server 2003 infrastructure is only as reliable as the hardware upon which it is based For this reason it is vital that you understand the system requirements of Windows Server 2003 Before you install Windows Server 2003 make sure that your hardware meets or exceeds the minimum requirements set forth by Microsoft as outlined in Chapter 1 In previous versions of Windows Microsoft provided an index of compatible hardware known as the Hardware Compatibility List HCL The HCL served as a reference guide to determine which hardware and associated drivers had been tested to function correctly on operating systems like Windows 2000 Server Beginning with Windows Server 2003 Microsoft has moved towards a new model of providing this information known as the Windows Server Catalog The Windows Server Catalog contains listings of hardware devices that have been certified to function with Windows Server 2003 and officially carry the Designed for Windows Server 2003 logo The Windows Server Catalog Web site shown in Figure 2 1 can be accessed from the Help and Support Center by clicking on the Compatible Hardware and Software link in the Support Tasks section of the Help Contents page Figure 2 1 The Windows Server Catalog Web site Although you may find that many non certified hardware devices perform well on your server Microsoft may not provide troubleshooting support if the hardware has not been specifically tested and certified for Windows Server 2003 The Windows Server Catalog can also be accessed online at http www microsoft com windows catalog server default aspx Copyright 2004 by Course Technology All rights reserved This publication is protected by federal copyright law No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior permission in writing from Course Technology Some of the product names and company names have been used for identification purposes only and may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective