Everything Depends on Active Directory
Active Directory is the crucial beginning point for your internal network’s security system. If your Active Directory goes down .

• Users will not be able to access emails or shared files from their desktop computers
• Users will not be able to connect to your system with wireless devices (such as laptops and PDAs) at all
• Many of your applications, including Exchange, will go down completely
• You can experience a host of security and access problems if there’s a problem with the replication of data from one Active Directory server to another.

Which Active Directory Servers Should You Monitor and Manage?
If you have multiple Active Directory servers – and most organizations do – you need to monitor and manage all of them. Each of your Active Directory servers is important, whether it’s primary, secondary, or remote.

What to Monitor and Manage on Active Directory
To keep your Active Directory performing optimally you should monitor and manage the following items on each of your Active Directory servers:

• Basic Functioning: Is the server up and running? Does it have connectivity to your network?
• Backups: It’s all well and good to set up your system to automatically backup at pre-determined intervals, but you also need to check to be sure that these backups are happening properly. Was the backup completed? Was it successful, or did it abort mid-way through? Any problems must be diagnosed and fixed, so that your system can be backed up as planned.
• Performance: How does your Active Directory server’s actual query speed compare with Microsoft’s performance recommendations? Watch out for slowdowns in response time, as this can indicate that the server is underpowered or overwhelmed – which can lead to serious problems. If performance is going down hill, it might be time to add another server.
• Error Logs: One way to spot potential security breaches is to watch the error logs for warnings that users are repeatedly trying to log in with invalid passwords. While this may just mean that a user forgot their password, it can also indicate that someone is trying to break in to that person’s account. Keep an eye out, also, for errors indicating that users are trying to access files to which they do not have access. If there appears to be a pattern from a particular person or to a particular file you’ll want to look into the situation to see what’s going on.
• DHCP Server: The DHCP server on Active Directory is used to provide IP addresses within your network, as well as DNS settings and DNS resolution. Monitoring and managing the DHCP server ensures that your end users will always be able to log in to your system and access things that are on your network. If the DHCP server isn’t functioning, your end users will only have access to whatever is on their hard drives
• Replication: If one of your Active Directory servers is replicating to another (such as to a failover server or to a server at another location), you need to monitor to ensure that these servers are actually in sync with each other. Is the replication happening on a continuous basis? Are there any errors in the replication process?

How Can Coyote Creek Consulting Help?
Coyote Creek has extensive experience in all aspects of Remote Monitoring and Management, including monitoring and managing Active Directory. We’ve proactively monitored Active Directory for organizations of all sizes. Because we understand the importance of Active Directory to the health of the overall IT system, we are extremely thorough in our monitoring and management processes.

Back to News & Events