Server Manager In 2008 R2…

Server Manager was introduced in Windows 2008 operating systems with a view to be the single console which an admin will need. While it serves the purpose to a great extend, one main drawback was the inability to connect to another computer. Let me explain.

If you right click the root of the Server Manager console in 2008 SP1+, you are provided with a few options like to add/remove roles and features. But, we can’t connect to another computer for administration purposes, that way we use to connect from Computer Management.

Windows 2008 R2 addresses the limitation and we can now connect to another computer from Server Manager console. But, there are few things to note.

• You can only connect to another computer from a 2008 R2 Server.
• The server which we want to connect to should also run 2008 R2 server core or full edition.
• Connections can be made from Windows 7 to 2008 R2 if Remote Server Admin Tools (RSAT) is installed on the client.
• The account that is used to connect should be a member of Administrators group on the remote server.
• Make sure that firewall rules are modified to pass the connection through.
• Remote connection has to be enabled in the Server Manager console of the remote server, before we can connect to it.
• It can be done using powershell, group policy or enabling it in the Server Manager console manually.

Check the technet article for more information.