Monitoring ports on server

The terms "server" and "network" go hand-in-hand. Without a network, a server is essentially useless. Putting a server on a network means opening ports on that server to listen and respond to incoming requests, but every port you open can lead to potential security problems.

It's a good idea to closely monitor the ports that are open on a server in order to identify unwanted or rogue services, and identify other services that can be shut down to improve security. One tool you can use to monitor open ports is the netstat command, included with Windows 2000 Server.

To identify ports with netstat, open a command console and type the following command: netstat -a. To view IP address for local and remote addresses rather than host names, add the -n switch: nestat -an. If you only want to view active connections and not listening ports, use the netstat command without any switches.