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Server Infrastructure Overview Report Document

I was asked recently by a reader what questions they should ask when looking into taking over a support contract for an existing IT support company.

To ensure that information is gathered correctly this document is split into a number of subsections, these include Server Hardware and Server Software, Active Directory configuration, Microsoft Exchange Organisation structure and configuration.

These subsections will gather information on Hardware Specifications, Operating System versions and patch levels, Application Software, Networking information and licensing information.

At the end of the article you can download the questions in Excel format.

Server Infrastructure

In this section we ask the client for information on the overall server infrastructure with hardware, software and site topology.

Topology

How many physical sites do you have
What are the location of these sites
What is the primary site
At each site how many employees
How many of these employees access the IT infrastructure
Number of Servers
Number of Desktops/Laptops
Site Connectivity (ADSL, VPN, Leased Line)
Additional Information

Server Hardware Specification

Is the server Physical or Virtual and if Virtual what hypervisor (VMware, Hyper V)
What is the server vendor and model (Only if Physical)
Asset Tag /Serial
Warranty
Firmware Date
Server RAID Configuration (Only if Physical)
CPUs + Cores
Memory
Hard Disk Storage
Amount of Volumes

Server Software

Server Hostname
Server License model (Standard, Enterprise, Datacentre)
Server OS Vendor (Microsoft, Linux etc)
Server OS Version
Server OS Build (Service Pack Level)
Find what updates are installed – run Get-WmiObject -Class WIN32_QuickFixEngineering
Member of Active Directory Domain
Server Role (Domain Controller, File Server, Exchange Server, SQL, Certificate Server)
IP Address
Subnet Mask
Gateway
DNS Servers

Domain Controller Specific

Does the Domain Controller Run DHCP
DHCP Scope Information
Does the Domain Controller Run DNS
Are DNS updates Secure or Non Secure
List the Name Servers
What are the ISP DNS forward addresses
What FSMO Roles does the Domain Controller run
Is the Domain Controller and Global Catalogue Server
Any Additional Roles? Federation, Certificate Services etc

File Server Specific

What shares are located on this server
What percentage of drive space is free on share volumes
How much data is on the server
How many printers are served from this server

General Server Specific

Does the server run automatic updates
Where does the server update from. Microsoft/WSUS
Does the server connect to the internet. Proxy/Direct
Does the server run AV protection
What AV protection does the server use
What is the AV dat update version on the server
What is the frequancy of the AV updates
Does the server have any supplementary roles
How do you backup these servers
What is the backup frequancy of the servers
How long is the data retained
Is the data retained off site
How are servers monitored, (Solarwinds, SCOM)

With the server information gathered we can now ask specific questions with regards to how Active Directory is configured.

Active Directory Configuration

Forest/Domain and Schema

Describe the Active Directory forest topology at a high level
Describe the forest and domain infrastructure, e.g. single site, single forest
If multiple Active Directory sites please list them
What DNS namespace (Fully Qualified Domain Name) is used for the Active Directory forest in the topology
What NetBIOS namespace is used for the domain in the Active Directory environment
What is the Active Directory Functional Level in use within the domain
What Group Policies are implemented, please list and describe them
If running certificate services, please describe what services are using certificates and what type of certificate
Do Servers and Clients have a fixed naming convention
Where are the FSMO roles located
Are there any Trust Relationships in place with other domains
If there are multiple sites what are the intersite transport links
Is replication between domain controllers healthty (run DCDiag per domain controller)
Are you currently using AD Federation Services (Office 365, Azure)
How is time syncronisation managed

AD Site Configuration

Sites mapping to physical infrastructure
Site link bridging configuration
Preferred bridgehead configuration
Site link schedule, cost configuration
IP subnet definition and mapping to sites
Connection objects

Users/Groups/OUs

Does Active Directory have a user naming convention
What is the naming convention
Does Active Directory have an organised OU structure
What is the OU structure, site based? Department Based?
How many Active Directory User accounts are there
How many Active Directory User accounts are live
How many Active Directory User accounts are disabled
Are there any security groups created
What users are memebers of what security groups
Are security groups used to delegate access to resources
Does the domain have a password policy, if so what is it
Can you provide a list of domain administrators
Is there a user policy in place

If the infrastructure you are working on runs Microsoft Exchange then you should gather the following information on the organisation.

 Exchange Environment

Please give a high level overview of you Exchange organisation.

Servers

Number of Exchange Servers in Total
Exchange 2003
Exchange 2007
Exchange 2010
Exchange 2013
If Exchange 2007- 2013 please give Exchange roles: CAS, HUB, MBX per Server
If multiple CAS servers is there a CAS array in place, if not is a load balancer used.
If CAS array what is the Outlook Anywhere URL and virtual IP of URL
How many datastores are there
Are these datastores spread across multiple MBX servers
If spread across multiple MBX servers, is there a DAG configuration in place
What is the DAG configuration
What is the DAG Witness Server
How many mailboxes are there
How many room/conference mailboxes are there
How many shared mailboxes
Are the datastores stored on a local dedicated volume/SAN/NAS
Where are each datastore logs located
How large is each datastore
What percentage of space is free on each datastore volume
What is the largest mailbox and the average mailbox size
What is the average message size

Organisation Configuration Section

Does the company have a email usage policy
What is the GAL Generation server
What is the OAB Generation server
Is GAL segmentation configured
Single or multiple address lists
Please provide a breakdown of what users are in what distribution list
What is the maximun email send and recieve size
Are mailbox qoutas enabled and if so what are they
Any transport rules created and if so what are they
What is the mailbox retention configuration for delete items
Is there an archiving policy in place
Are any disclaimers or signatures configured
Is any software used to scan content before leaving the organisation
Is email filtered externaly before entering the system
Are public folders enabled
What is the public folder replication topology
Is a public SSL certificate used, if so please list the SANs (Subject Alternative Names)
How many accepted email domains
What is the email address policy
What is the internal OWA address
What is the external OWA address
Is FAX integrated with Exchange
Is Unified Comms integrated with Exchange
Is Anti Virus integrated with Exchange (i.e Trend, Mcafee)

Client Section

How many Microsoft Office 2016 (Please specify Service Pack level)
How many Microsoft Office 2013 (Please specify Service Pack level)
How many Microsoft Office 2010 (Please specify Service Pack level)
How many 2007 Microsoft Office system (Please specify Service Pack level)
How many Microsoft Office 2003 (Please specify Service Pack level)
How many Microsoft Office XP (Please specify Service Pack level)
How many Windows Phone 8
How many Windows Phone 7.5
How many Windows Phone 7
How many Windows Mobile Version 6.5
How many Windows Mobile Version 6.1
How many Windows Mobile Version 6
How many Windows Mobile Version 5
How many Windows Mobile < 5 (please specify)
How many BlackBerry

With the above gathered you should be able to gather a pretty comprehensive overview of your clients infrastructure.