Server Manager is an administrative "cockpit" for managing virtually everything about a Windows 2008 Server machine. It combines capabilities that were spread across several consoles in Windows 2003: Configure Your Server, Manage Your Server, the Windows Optional Components wizard of the Add/Remove Programs control panel, the Security Configuration Wizard, and so on. It is quite possible that many server admins will be able to do almost everything they need to do from this one console. Of course, like other MMC consoles, you have the flexibility to create your own customized version of this tool, but I'd recommend spending some significant time with the "vanilla" Server Manager before you do so.

Note that Server Manager is not the same as the "Initial Configuration Tasks" console (ICT) that comes up automatically the first time after you install Server 2008. You can use the ICT to assign an administrator pass-word, configure your IP address, join a domain, set up Windows Update-in short, all the things you would normally be prompted to do in an interactive install of Server 2003. You can also use ICT to add roles and features, but that process is better performed in Server Manager. When you've finished with ICT, click the little checkbox saying "do not show this window at logon" and it vanishes.

Or, if you prefer, you can ignore the ICT entirely, because everything it can do, Server Manager can do, too, as you can see in Figure 1. (It's Microsoft software-there's usually more than one way to do the same thing.)

The way to see this Server Manager overview is to click the top most node in the navigation pane-the one titled "Server Manager" followed by the name of the computer. The overview is also a quick way to see what roles and features are installed on the server.

See previous post
The Look and Feel of Server 2008