ArcGIS Server Manager is the central hub of action for your GIS server. From Manager, you can publish and configure services, create Web applications, and administer the server itself. Administering the server means setting up and adjusting the appropriate hardware, software, and settings so that your ArcGIS Server system runs as smoothly as possible and meets your needs.
The ArcGIS Server Help contains important conceptual information on the best ways to set up and tune your server. Ultimately, to put those concepts in practice, you will need to know how to perform administrative procedures using ArcGIS Server Manager. This section contains step-by-step topics that walk you through those procedures.
If you've just installed ArcGIS Server, be sure to read Getting started after install for a list of the things you need to do first.
All of the help topics in this section require that you log into Manager with an account that is in the agsadmin group on the GIS server.
A second way to administer the GIS server is through the GIS Servers node in ArcCatalog. Step-by-step help topics for server administration in ArcCatalog are available in both the ArcGIS Server and ArcGIS Desktop help systems. ArcGIS Server Manager can perform all of the administrative functions that are available in ArcCatalog, except for creating map and globe caches. This is because you must have access to the geoprocessing tools in ArcToolbox to create caches.