Emergency Management Services overview

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

Emergency Management Services overview

Emergency Management Services is a new feature that is included with the Microsoft® Windows Server 2003 family. You can use this feature to perform remote-management and system recovery tasks when the server is unavailable through the network or other standard remote-administration tools and mechanisms. Emergency Management Services is available for x86-based and Itanium-based systems.

When a server is operating normally, you can manage it remotely by using a variety of administrative tools that are provided in your Windows Server 2003 operating system. Using these tools to access and manage the server is referred to as in-band management. It usually requires a network that is fully available. For more information on this topic, see In-band management.

When the network is unavailable, you can use Emergency Management Services to access and manage the server. You do so through an out-of-band connection. This method does not require operating-system network drivers. In addition, you can use an out-of-band connection to troubleshoot the server when it is not fully initialized and functioning. Typically, you can do this without being physically present at the computer. When the appropriate out-of-band hardware is in place, the server requires physical access only when hardware must be installed or replaced. Emergency Management Services also eliminates the need for a keyboard, mouse, monitor, or video adapter on the remotely administered server. Emergency Management Services is available with or without a video card. For more information about this topic, see Out-of-band management.

With Emergency Management Services, you use a straightforward but powerful terminal text mode instead of a graphical user interface (GUI). As a result, you can use Emergency Management Services with a wide range of communication media (including serial connections) and current out-of-band infrastructure (including terminal concentrators and terminal emulators). It also provides interoperability with other platforms, such as UNIX.

Emergency Management Services features are fully or partially available when the operating system loads, when it is active (setting up and starting up), and when it is in distress (responding improperly or experiencing a Stop error). For a visual overview of these situations, see the System-state diagram.

For additional information on how to integrate Emergency Management Services into your infrastructure, see "Deploying Emergency Management Services" at the Microsoft Windows Resource Kits Web site.