What alerts does the server System Health feature provide?

Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials can handle tasks like backups and remote access, perform basic infrastructure and manage users, groups, and mobile devices. Let's take a closer look at the System Health alerting capabilities of Windows Server 2012 R2 and consider ways to use the feature productively.

The Health Report generated under Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials typically reports on behaviors in six system categories: critical alerts and warnings, critical errors in the event logs, server backup, auto-start services not running, updates, and storage.

Many diverse alerts can trigger an email message. For example, email alerts can result from server restarts or shutdowns, missing services (like Windows Server Storage Services not running) or certificates, activation or licensing issues such as an expired evaluation period or expired Internet domain name, incorrect configurations like router, firewall, Web server or remote desktop configuration problems, and services issues like password problems or lost Exchange Server access. It also calls attention to backup issues like unfinished backups or inadequate backup storage or even storage problems such as low free space or unresponsive hard drives. These are certainly not the only scope of faults that a server can experience, but almost all operating-system-related problems can be broken down into one of these categories.

It is possible to organize alerts displayed in the Alert Viewer based on the issue's severity or the computer's name. First, access the Alert Viewer, open the Organize drop-down menu, then select "Filter by computer" to view alerts only for the selected computer, or select "Filter by alert type" and choose critical, warning or informational to see the associated alert types.