I've mentioned MMC before, but I really need to express how great it is. MMC stands for Microsoft Management Console. It's a one-stop shop for system administrators to control every aspect of their domain, a server role, or a computer. It can be accessed on any computer running the "Pro" edition of its OS - any computer that can be joined to a domain. Press Windows+R, type "mmc", hit Enter, and you get the amazing view of a blank MMC console.
It starts actually doing things when you add snap-ins. Hit Ctrl+M or choose "Add/Remove Snap-ins" under File. Add one or more snap-ins to the console by selecting them in the left pane, clicking Add, and configuring them as appropriate. (If you're a domain admin, you can remotely administer computers using MMC simply by typing the remote computer name in snap-in configuration, no Remote Desktop needed.) For example, "Local Users and Groups" lets you manage non-domain user accounts and groups on a machine. "Group Policy Object Editor" (which works whether or not you're on a domain) lets you tweak literally every setting you've ever heard of and also ones that are super obscure. "Disk Management" is great for establishing software RAID without third-party tools.
In fact, you've probably used some MMC snap-ins without knowing it. Device Manager is an MMC snap-in that, when launched from the advanced system properties, doesn't display the MMC chrome. Services and Task Scheduler are similar examples. Almost all of these can be found in Administrative Tools, but some super-big ones like Group Policy Object Editor can't be found there.
MMC is really great. Thanks Microsoft!
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