Shutting Off Unnecessary Services

Each service that runs, especially those that use elevated system privileges, poses a particular security risk to a server. Although the security emphasis in Windows Server reduces the overall threat, there is still a chance that one of these services will provide entry for a specialized virus or determined hacker. A great deal of effort has been put into the science of determining which services are necessary and which can be disabled. Windows Server simplifies this guessing game with an enhanced Services MMC snap-in.

As shown in Figure 15.2, the Services console not only shows which services are installed and running but also gives a reasonably thorough description of what each service does and the effect of turning it off. It is wise to audit the Services list on each deployed server and determine which services are necessary and which can be disabled. Many services such as the Print Spooler, Telephony, and others are unnecessary on a SharePoint server and simply create more potential security holes. Finding the happy medium is the goal because too many running services could potentially provide security holes, whereas shutting off too many services could cripple the functionality of a server.

Figure 15.2. Using the Services console to administer the server.