A fault tolerant method of resetting a server through either a local or remote client machine. The remote machine accesses the server by use of a dial-in modem connection, while the local machine accesses the server by a local serial connection. The resetting operation brings the server and the operating system software to a normal operational state. Reset is used after diagnostics or recovery have been performed without the use of the server operating system software or to restart the server after an unexpected crash.