System Center Configuration Manager

ConfigMgr includes the ability to acquire hardware and software inventory in order to identify the assets
of the enterprise. It provides a wide variety of features that include delivery of new software packages,
virtual applications,software updates, and operating systems, and it also ensures the systems are
protected with the latest antivirus definitions.

Configuration Manager Features:-

Inventory Configuration Manager offers you the ability to inventory the hardware and software of its
client computers. Hardware inventory can gather information from your systems such as processor
information, the computer manufacturer, and the amount of installed memory.

Queries Queries allow you to gather information from the Configuration Manager database through the
WBEM query language (WQL Queries are primarily used to make groups of Configuration Manager
resources, called collections,

Collections Collections can be the answers or results to a question that involves specifying various
resources, Collections allow you to organize Configuration Manager resources into logical groups, based
on a query.

Application Management This feature allows Configuration Manager to distribute just

about anything to its client computers

Software Updates This feature of Configuration Manager has to be one of our favorites. Using this
feature, you can manage the daunting task of deploying updates to Microsoft applications and operating
systems Not only does this apply to Microsoft security patches and updates, but having this flexible and
extensible environment has allowed partners (such as HP, Dell, IBM, Citrix, and others) to create custom
catalogs to update server and desktop BIOS, firmware, and drivers as well as to create internal.

Software Metering Software metering, also covered in Chapter 9, allows you to collect information on
software usage to assist in managing software purchases and licensing.

Operating System Deployment:- it has become a feature-rich, process-driven way to deploy servers and
workstations. It leverages other new technology specifically designed by Microsoft to deploy
operating systems to computers with multiple options.

Remote Control This feature allows computer support staff to remotely troubleshoot problems with
users’ computers just like they are sitting in front of the computer.

Settings Management:- This feature is designed to address configuration drift within the enterprise. that
enables them to set configuration baselines (based on SOX, HIPPA, GLBA, or other compliancy
regulations.and baseline of standards for your workstations and servers and audit your
environment against that baseline

Mobile Device Management This feature allows you to manage mobile devices such as Windows Mobile
Pocket PCs and smartphones. Inventory, file collection, software distribution, and device configuration are
all options with this feature.
Network Access Protection This is a new feature in Configuration Manager. It leverages technology built
into Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 that allows you to protect your network from potential
threats by not allowing computers to access your network that do not meet certain system health
requirements such as having updated antivirus definitions or security patches installed.

Wake on LAN This feature, added to software distribution, was available in SMS 2003 only by purchasing
third-party software. It allows you to leverage technology built into computer hardware to wake up
computers that have been turned off so they can run assigned deployments.

Reporting This feature is great for reviewing the status of the environment. Reporting This feature is
great for reviewing the status of the environment, for showing return on investment, and for matching
licensing with what is actually installed. It grants visibility into the enterprise with the integration of Asset
Intelligence (covered in Chapter 12, “Asset Intelligence”). This allows you to gain an understanding of
licensing (Microsoft and third-party licenses), asset age, Client Access License (CAL) utilization, product
families/categories, and much more insightful data. With this feature you can createweb-based reports,
via Configuration Manager or through SQL Reporting Services.

Out-of-Band Management:-The out of band service point is the site system role that serves as the
management interface between Configuration Manager and client systems that are operating with Intel’s
Active Management Technology (AMT) vPro chipset, a technology available in workstation-class systems.
Configuration Manager leverages four key areas to communicate directly to hardware Discovery
Discovery is an out-of-band management area that provides an administrator with the ability to achieve
discovery on demand. This can be performed on a single machine or groups of machines via a
Configuration Manager collection. It also allows you to schedule a discovery so that if the software does
not respond, the hardware still can provide insight into an asset.

Power Control Power control provides the flexibility to allow both scheduled and ondemand
power-on capabilities. From a scheduling perspective, this can potentially improve efficiency and data
consistency when used in conjunction with other Configuration Manager features such as software
distribution, software update management, or operating system deployment. From an on-demand
perspective, this enables administrators to wake up, restart, or shut down a remote machine. One area of
efficiency that enterprises are increasingly demanding is power management. Thus, the ability to control
hardware and software from a single pane of glass becomes an attractive feature

Provisioning Provisioning workstations, either as new assets that enter the enterprise or as a means to an
end in the remediation process, has become a necessary part of an administrator’s role. As the operating
system becomes less independent of hardware (that is, the operating system hardware abstraction layer
[HAL]), the provisioning process may become morestreamlined. With an integrated solution such as AMT
and Configuration Manager, secure, zero-touch setup and provisioning of workstations can be achieved

Remote Console Remote console for out-of-band management enables administrators to perform
advanced techniques such as serial over LAN, IDE redirection, BIOS password bypass, and manual power
control. This allows an administrator to remotely mount a bootable troubleshooting image (ISO image),
boot into the BIOS to change the boot order, or turn the targeted machine on or off at will
Asset Intelligence
Asset Intelligence feature in Configuration Managerlets you inventory and manage software license
usage in your enterprise. The another term that you need to get familiar is Asset Intelligence catalog.
The Asset Intelligence catalog contains a set of database tables stored in the site database

Application Virtualization Management

It integrates Microsoft App-V 4.6 and App-V 5.0 with ConfigMgr 2012.
◆ Application Virtualization Management (AVM) allows you to use Configuration Manager
to manage and deploy virtual applications, when possible, to make managing virtual
applications for the Configuration Manager administrator the same experience as managing
standard or physical software.
◆ AVM has version checking, user-based targeting, and streaming functionality.

Operating System Deployment Enhancements

Although Configuration Manager 2007 was good at deploying operating systems, a couple of
improvements were needed in order to compete in the marketplace. The following enhancements now
round out the offerings of Configuration Manager in the enterprise:
◆ With ConfigMgr 2012, an unknown machine can now receive a task sequence to install an
operating system.
◆ There is support for multicasting operating system images to a PXE environment—for
well-connected LANs leveraging Windows Server 2008 R2 technologies, on the same distribution
point.

SQL Reporting Services Integration

SQL Reporting Services (SRS) is an evolution of reporting just as previous technologies have been. The
Microsoft management team has standardized on SRS for reporting within the System Center family of
products. The SRS integration within Configuration Manager 2012 enhancements includes the following:
◆ The new server role Reporting Services point
◆ The ability to manage, browse, and run SRS Configuration Manager reports from the Configuration
Manager console

System Center Endpoint Protection

This feature brings the ability to scan and secure system resources from viruses or malware. System
Center Endpoint Protection enables businesses to align security and management to improve endpoint
protection while greatly reducing operational cost

Centralized Power Management

Also important are the abilities to monitor the power consumption, create different power plans based on
organization need and different operational departments, and check compliance and remediate those
workstations that are in noncompliance. It’s easy to manage these situations on SQL Reporting Services