Here are ten things you could check on a Monday morning to ensure your technological week ahead comprises fewer surprises than usual.

Backup Status

Always check your backups have run. Remember too, not just to check your data backups but also any other backups you may have set and forget. If running servers, WINS, Active Directory, System State and DHCP are a few things you can get backed up regularly.

More information

• Active Directory Backup and Restore
• Back up the WINS database
• Backing up the DHCP database
• Backup of Protected Computer System State
• Managing the Windows Server Platform: Domain Name System (DNS) Service Product Operations Guide

Drive Space

System drive space, user drive space and shared space can run out quickly if left unchecked. Also check your email drive space and the size of those PST files. One of the benefits of regular checking is the trending information which builds up allowing you to get some heads up of when you may likely run into drive space problems. I have yet to find a suitable program for regularly recording drive space usage so if you know of any let me know.

More Information

• How Can I Get a List of All the .PST Files on a Computer?
• Exchange 2007 Mailbox Size Power shell Form Script version 3

Service Contracts

Are any of your maintenance and/or service contracts due to expire over the next month? You should be able to feed most of these into your calendar applications and configure it to give you a months warning (or more if some of your contracts have greater windows).

Software Updates

Particularly Windows Update should be checked regularly to ensure it is actually running and you haven’t missed any important updates. Whilst you are doing this also cast an eye over your anti-virus, and anti-malware applications to ensure they are running up to date.

Event Logs

Particularly error events should be checked regularly. Some are easy to deal with whilst others may need a lot of data collection. I have yet to find a suitable program for the collection and analysis of event logs so if you find one let me know.

Firewall Log

Keep an eye open on your firewall logs for any unusual behaviour. If you can get reports from your firewall device get a summary of the key events at the very least. You might be under attack and not even know it!

Scheduled Tasks/Timed Jobs

We run a number of command line scripts on a regular basis but it is worth keeping an eye on all regularly timed jobs. You can use programs like BLAT to automatically email you updates and logs of timed jobs.

UPS Status

Keep a regular check on your uninterruptible power supply status – batteries do not last forever. Check the status of your UPS equipment and record any major events to keep one step ahead.

Archive Important Files

Copy away any essential files you may need, especially ones relating to getting your system back up and running quickly (including your backup of System State mentioned earlier) and archive any important data files you use regularly. If you deal with a lot of paperwork you could get it scanned in and archived away safely in case you run into trouble.

Bookmark Management

When browsing the Web you may find an ever increasing number of bookmarks in your browser. Sign up to a web based bookmark service and regularly migrate your bookmarks. These may be bookmarks to useful sites that may hold solutions to problems or how-to documents you find in passing.

More Information

• http://delicious.com/
• http://ma.gnolia.com/

A number of additional things to check regularly can be found on the daily checklist.