NPAS Best Practices Analyzer is now available for Windows Server 2008 R2

View products that this article applies to.

INTRODUCTION

In Windows management, best practices are guidelines to configure a server as defined by experts. For example, it is considered a best practice for most server technologies to keep open ports that are required for the technologies to communicate with other networked computers and also block unused ports. Whereas best practice violations, even very important best practice violations, are not necessarily problematic, they indicate server configurations that can result in poor performance, poor reliability, unexpected conflicts, increased security risks, or other potential problems.

Note This update was revised on October 23, 2012 to apply to Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1. If you have previously applied the original version of KB 977239 update, no further action is needed. If you have not previously installed this update, you should apply this update.

↑ Back to the top

More Information

What is Best Practices Analyzer?

Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) is a server management tool that is available in Windows Server 2008 R2. BPA reports best practice violations to the administrator after BPA scans the roles that are installed on Windows Server 2008 R2. Administrators can filter out unnecessary information from BPA reports that they do not have to see. Administrators can also perform BPA tasks by using either the Server Manager GUI, or Windows PowerShell cmdlets. For more information about Best Practices Analyzer and scans, see the Best Practices Analyzer Help.

About the Network Policy and Access Services BPA Update

The update described contains best practice benchmarks against which Network Policy and Access Services (also known as NPAS) running on Windows Server 2008 R2 can be evaluated. After this update is installed on a server that is running Windows Server 2008 R2, you can run Best Practices Analyzer scans on Network Policy and Access Services that will help you bring the role into compliance with best practices.

You can use the Network Policy and Access Services update for Best Practices Analyzer to scan a server that is running the following role services:

Network Policy Server
Health Registration Authority
Routing and Remote Access Services

BPA can help you identify Network Policy and Access Services configurations that do not comply with Microsoft best practices for this role. Scan results are displayed as a list that you can sort by severity, and include recommendations for fixing issues and links to instructions. No configuration changes occur automatically by running the scan.