What is the best way to take a server "offline"

[zaresa]

I want to take a couple of servers offline to perform maintenance...what is the best way to do this?

Can I simply logoff the domain or do I need to first shut some services down?

Thanks in advance for any help...

 

[jtb]

it depends... who'll be affected, workarounds, cost of downtime, and so on... here's the $0.25 version:

1. there should be procedures written for this in your site administration manual that details who you ought to contact and so on...

2. don't have a s.a.m.? now you know why it's important... get with your manager or your client and discuss it with them. then find a sample on the web or in one of the 24seven books or whatever and start writing your tail off...

3. get it approved by the boss/client first...

4. make sure you have a usable backup second... never shut down a produiction server that isn't backed up somewhere... trust me on that but don't ask why... if you need to ask, you don't need to be shutting down servers... ;-)

5. then, if all your duck are lined up, gracefully kick off the users and stop all the applications and databases...


next time you'll be ready.

JTB
Solutions Architect
MCSE-NT4, MCP+I, MCP-W2K, CCNA, CCDA,
CTE, MCIWD, i-Net+, Network+
(MCSA, MCSE-W2K, MCIWA, SCSA, SCNA in progress)

 

[djhawthorn]

Well, you can just turn em off and pull out the network cable, then power them back on.

It really depends on what "maintenance" you want to perform. Logging out will not stop network access to the machine(s) in question, as both Workstation and Server services (which handle incoming connections and file sharing etc..) will still be running. MCSE NT4/W2K