I've begun to notice that several people are unaware of a very important feature of terminal services that can come in handy. When a server is setup for remote administration mode Microsoft allows two remote administration sessions. There are at least two issues with this The first one is that there are only two, so if you have three different administrators trying to remotely log into the same server then the third administrator who tries is going to receive a message informing them that they cannot log in. The other issue is that some applications output their messages to the console, so if you are logged in remotely you may not be able to view a critical message. So what's the solution to this? Well what few people seem to be aware of is that you can remotely connect to the console session. This allows you to view any error messages that may get outputted directly to the console, and this also gives you one more remote session to utilize. In order to access the console session by way of terminal services you'll need to invoke mstsc from the run prompt using the /console parameter, enter in your address as usual, then log into the remote system. It is extremely simple, yet can come in very handy, especially when s few administrators need access to the same server. This trick could save you a long walk to the server room. Just remember if you're logged into the console session remotely that means no one can log in directly at the keyboard. If someone has the console locked when you try to log in remotely to it you will be prompted if you want to continue and end their session. This will work on servers in application mode, but you must be an administrator on the server to be able to log into the console session.
Disclaimer The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent my employer's view in any way.