Checklist for server infrastructure

1. System administration
   
   • Application management
   • Operating system administration
   • Messaging administration
   • Database administration
   • Web server administration
2. Configuration management
   
   • Identify & document components & their relationships
   • Document which applications are running on each server
   • Document the service pack level for all applications & the server operating system
   • Document all critical application level settings, such as the path to databases and transaction logs
   • Document all DNS, WINS and DHCP settings.
   • Document which services are used on each server
3. Capacity management
   
   • Business capacity management
   • Service capacity management
   • Resource capacity management
   • Planning, sizing and controlling business, service solution and resource capacity such that it satisfies business unit user demand.
   • Performance levels established in the capacity plan and service level agreements.
4. Workforce management
   
   • Adequately skilled and trained workforce.
   • Recruiting
   • Skills development
   • Knowledge transfer
   • Competency levels
   • Team building
   • Process improvements
   • Resource deployment
5. Service continuity management
   
   • Manage disaster recovery sites and services.
   • Reduce single points of failure on business critical systems.
6. Integration with Service Desk
   
   • Monitoring service desk performance
   • Manage costs and charges
   • Reporting to management
   • Comparing actual performance to commitments & industry benchmarks
   • Optimizing staffing levels
   • Monitoring & continually assessing & improving service desk workflow & business processes
   • Monitoring & continually assessing & improving tools & technologies used in automating service desk activities
   • Integration with Incident Management
   • Integration with Problem Management
   • Integration with Change Management
7. Security administration
   
   • Maintain a safe computing environment
   • Ensure data confidentiality
   • Ensure data integrity
   • Ensure data availability
8. Release management
   
   • Facilitate the introduction of software & hardware releases
   • Ensure that all changes are deployed successfully
   • Coordinate & manage all releases
9. Storage management
   
   • Servers, storage hardware, storage software, storage networks, tools & operational processes
   • Ensure that business can reliably safeguard their data
   • Ensure that these systems and stored data kept operating
10. Print and output management
    
    • Management of printer and print types
    • Screen standardisation
11. Network administration
    
    • Integrate components with the network.
    • Maintain networking standardisation.
12. Service monitoring and control
    
    • Process heartbeat
    • Job and queue status
    • Server resource loads
    • Response times
    • Transaction status and availability
13. Service level management
    
    • Creating a service catalog
    • Identifying and negotiating service level requirements for service level agreements
    • Ensuring that service level requirements are met within financial budgets
    • Setting accounting policies
    • Monitoring and reviewing support services
14. Job scheduling
    
    • Ensure that SLAs & user requirements are met
    • Available capacity is used most effectively (the workload running at any given time does not exceed the acceptable capacity levels)
    • Workloads are organized by time periods (daily, weekly, monthly, annually) & jobs are scheduled for execution according to business needs, length of job, storage requirements & associated dependencies
    • Schedules are set up and maintained, conflicts & problems pertaining to scheduling are managed & special needs (for example, as-needed jobs) are accommodated
    • Jobs & batches are executed according to the work schedule, run priority & job dependencies
15. Financial management
    
    • Controlling the overall IT costs that business incurs
    • Financial management activities include budgeting, IT accounting, charging (or charge back models) & system decommissioning
    • Budgeting which consists of predicting & controlling the spending of money within the enterprise
    • Ensure that any service solution proposed to meet the needs identified from a request for change is justified from a cost and budget standpoint
    • Charging by billing Business Unit users for services
    • System decommissioning or retirement is critical so that systems can be assessed over time to consider not only upgrades and new functionality, but also replacement
16. Directory service management
    
    • Document which domains are included within the forest
    • Document which domain controllers are responsible for performing which Active Directory roles
    • Document any external trust relationships that exist
    • Document any site links that may exist and which servers are acting as the bridgeheads
    • Document each OU and the computers, servers, and groups contained within them. Users are optional
    • Document the rights assigned to each group. Documenting group membership is optional
    • Document the location & name of each group policy
    • Document the settings within each group policy
17. Availability management
    
    • Ensure that Business Unit users can use a given IT service when required
    • Ensuring high availability for a service solution must begin early in the software or service development process
    • Ensure that designing for availability, reliability, manageability, and maintainability occur & are documented in the specification of the product or service
    • Support the service with solid operational processes & skilled people

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