As problems occurred, alerts warned the staff and informed them of the nature and location of the problem. Historical review of the collected data over time helped to project usage and capacity. Managing Servers Server technology enabled work teams to share resources. Since this shared resource affected the productivity of many, it needed to be closely managed. A number of servers perform a variety of different tasks.
File servers provide shared disk space for storing the files needed by work teams.
They can also provide a common area from which team members launch desktop applications. Storing desktop application images on the file server, then launching and running them from individuals' personal computers can save several hundred megabytes of disk space per person, and can make software upgrades a lot easier. Print servers also enable a team to share a printer resource. Since server failure disrupts smooth departmental operation, it's important to know when they are down. System management software provides this alert.