8. Use enterprise tools to identify and respond to program errors

There are several tools available for monitoring your Event Log remotely, so keeping tabs on multiple servers is not a problem. One such program with which I've had success is Quest Software's Big Brother. A small windows service runs on each server and monitors a multitude of factors including Event Log messages. Reporting of errors can trigger an email or simply update a dashboard display on a single Big Brother server.

Of course you can monitor Event Logs manually across the network using MMC, or programmatically with WMI as well.

References

.NET Framework Developer's Guide: Best Practices for Handling Exceptions
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/cpguide/html/cpconbestpracticesforhandlingexceptions.asp

Microsoft Knowledge Base Article - 315965
HOW TO: Use Structured Exception Handling in Visual Basic .NET
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q315965&ID=kb;en-us;Q315965&SD=MSDN

.NET Framework Developer's Guide: Handling and Throwing Exceptions
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/cpguide/html/cpconhandlingthrowingexceptions.asp

Choosing When to Use Structured and Unstructured Exception Handling
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/vbcn7/html/vatskchoosingwhentousestructuredunstructuredexceptionhandling.asp

Development Impacts of Security Changes in Windows Server 2003
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/dncode/html/secure06122003.asp (see Tighter ACLs on Event Logs)

Big Brother - http://www.bb4.org/

Monitoring in .NET Distributed Application Design
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnbda/html/monitordotnet.asp