Performing Monthly Maintenance Tasks

When an understanding of the maintenance required for SharePoint is obtained, it is vital to formalize the procedures into documented steps. A maintenance plan can contain information on what tasks to perform at different intervals. It is recommended to perform the tasks examined in the following sections on a monthly basis.

Maintaining File System Integrity

CHKDSK scans for file system integrity and can check for lost clusters, cross-linked files, and more. If Windows Server senses a problem, it runs CHKDSK automatically at startup.

Administrators can maintain FAT, FAT32, and NTFS file system integrity by running CHKDSK once a month. To run CHKDSK, do the following:

1. At the command prompt, change to the partition that you want to check.
2. Type CHKDSK without any parameters to check only for file system errors.
3. If any errors are found, run the CHKDSK utility with the /f parameter to attempt to correct the errors found.

Testing the UPS Battery

An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) can be used to protect the system or group of systems from power failures (such as spikes and surges) and keep the system running long enough after a power outage so that an administrator can gracefully shut down the system. It is recommended that a SharePoint administrator follow the UPS guidelines provided by the manufacturer at least once a month. Also, monthly scheduled battery tests should be performed.

Validating Backups

Once a month, an administrator should validate backups by restoring the backups to a server located in a lab environment. This is in addition to verifying that backups were successful from log files or the backup program’s management interface. A restore gives the administrator the opportunity to verify the backups and to practice the restore procedures that would be used when recovering the server during a disaster. In addition, this procedure tests the state of the backup media to ensure that they are in working order and builds administrator confidence for recovering from a true disaster.

Updating Documentation

An integral part of managing and maintaining any IT environment is to document the network infrastructure and procedures. The following are just a few of the documents you should consider having on hand:

• SharePoint Server build guides

• Disaster recovery guides and procedures

• Maintenance checklists

• Configuration settings

• Change control logs

• Historical performance data

• Special user rights assignments

• SharePoint site configuration settings

• Special application settings

As systems and services are built and procedures are ascertained, document these facts to reduce learning curves, administration, and maintenance.

It is not only important to adequately document the IT environment, but it’s also often even more important to keep those documents up-to-date. Otherwise, documents can quickly become outdated as the environment, processes, and procedures change as the business changes.