System Center 2008, manage systems, automate operations

By Michael Healey
GreenPages' Technology Solutions CTO

Microsoft has often been criticized for a lack of cohesive management tools for running networks. This year marks the release of the “System Center” family—a redesigned suite of offerings replacing the previous versions of SMS, Data Protection Manager, MOM, and its virtualization toolset.

All Under One Umbrella.
Microsoft’s goal in consolidating the different application sets is to not only have a more cohesive set of tools, but also to be able to time development with the rest of Microsoft, especially the Operations System and Office teams. While the old SMS was created to help people manage their desktops, the problem was that when Microsoft would come out with a new operating system, a new patch, or a new service pack, the corresponding SMS update would lag behind the release.

Finally Microsoft Thinks Networks.
When we’ve talked to customers about the new features, their comment has been “It’s about time! Why didn’t they focus on a set of tools that lets you better manage your network until now?” While having a well run network is important to GreenPages and to our clients, it lacked a directed effort within Microsoft.

Change Is Good.
But Microsoft has heard the complaints and is now being proactive about the issue; The new System Center already has the development hooks, software details, and updated management consoles to support the new Windows Server 2008 (which is coming out in March). In addition, System Configuration Manager is now directly integrated with the popular WSUS service—a core staple of many networks.

So What Exactly Is System Center?
System Center is a suite of applications that are designed to capture and aggregate knowledge about infrastructure, policies, processes, and best practices to help build manageable systems and automate operations

Industry Updates

	Hitachi wins award at Green Data Center Conference: Best Practice Award...
	ProCurve Switch 2810 wins InfoWorld 2008 Technology of the Year Award
	Notebooks built on Intel® Centrino® with vPro™ technology combine top performance with security and manageability integrated right onto the chip.
	The Cisco® ASA 5500 Series Adaptive Security Appliances deliver a powerful combination of multiple market-proven technologies in a single platform
	A bundled, preconfigured management server that helps IT administrators quickly and easily implement Altiris client management software.
	Lenovo. Products that protect your hardware investment. Solutions that improve your technology experience.

To unsubscribe please click here.