By Peter Pawlak [bio]
Posted: May 7, 2007

• Illustration: System Center Product Timeline

The following is the full text of an article published by Directions on Microsoft, an independent research firm focused exclusively on Microsoft strategy & technology. More samples of our content, as well as a list of upcoming articles and reports are also available.

A plethora of product releases from Microsoft's Windows and Enterprise Management Division will mark 2007 and early 2008. These management products all fall under Microsoft's new System Center brand umbrella, and several constitute the first Microsoft products to implement the use of management models, a key pillar of the company's Dynamic Systems Initiative (DSI). Microsoft believes that its DSI strategy and System Center products will help convince customers that Windows is a superior enterprise platform that provides lower total cost of ownership and greater flexibility than Linux and Unix alternatives.

Introduction

When Microsoft laid out its systems management strategy in spring 2003, it urged Windows application developers to begin designing manageability into their products, since "bolting on" management after the fact has proven ineffective. The 2003 strategy invited developers—including Microsoft's own—to do two things. First, they should instrument their applications to expose significant events and performance metrics that could be captured by external management software. Second, they should build discovery, configuration, and health models for their applications that would aid IT operations personnel in interpreting the instrumentation data and monitoring the applications' health. An overarching project called the Dynamic Systems Initiative would guide development of the models, tools, and products needed to accomplish these goals.

At the Mar. 2007 Microsoft Management Summit, the company reached a milestone in its DSI strategy by shipping Operations Manager 2007, the first product to rely on formalized management models. It also announced plans to ship many more products essential to the DSI over the next 12 months, particularly Configuration Manager 2007, Virtual Machine Manager 2008, and Service Manager (2008).

(For a graphical overview of the release schedule for all System Center products, see the illustration "System Center Product Timeline".)

Existing System Center Products

Microsoft's System Center line includes products for computer configuration, monitoring, backup, capacity planning, and other management tasks. The product line is expanding significantly as Microsoft delves deeper into virtualization and enters the arena of trouble ticketing and problem resolution. Some of the System Center products will also require updates to be compatible with Windows Server "Longhorn," which is due for release in the second half of 2007.

Systems Management Server

Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 is used to centrally manage PC assets, distribute and update software, and track software use. The current release, SMS 2003 R2, is an interim release that added vulnerability assessment tools to detect insecure computer configurations (such as weak password policies). It also introduced software scanning and distribution technology that is open to software vendors other than Microsoft.

SMS 2003 SP3 will roll up bug fixes, add Windows Vista to the OSs that SMS 2003 and SMS 2003 R2 can manage, and add new functionality in the form of Asset Intelligence, a technology acquired though Microsoft's purchase of AssetMetrix. Asset Intelligence provides more extensive hardware and software asset inventorying capabilities than SMS 2003 originally had. SP3 is in beta and is due for a May 2007 release. No further service packs are planned for SMS 2003 or SMS 2003 R2. Furthermore, if customers want to upgrade their SMS 2003 servers to Longhorn, they will have to first upgrade SMS to the next release, Configuration Manager 2007. However, Microsoft plans to issue a hotfix for SMS 2003 SP3 near the time of Longhorn's release that will allow the product to manage Longhorn servers.

Configuration Manager 2007 will succeed SMS 2003 R2. Previously code-named SMS v4, Configuration Manager (CM) 2007 will be the first version to use configuration models to manage software installation and configuration, and it will support Windows Vista's new image-based OS deployment technology. CM 2007 will also enable management of PCs over the Internet without requiring a virtual private network connection. It is currently in beta and is planned for release during the third quarter of 2007. The initial release of CM 2007 cannot run on or manage Longhorn servers.

Configuration Manager 2007 SP1. A service pack is already planned for release in the first half of 2008 to incorporate changes needed to run on or manage Longhorn servers and to accommodate changes that will be introduced in Windows Vista SP1.

Configuration Manager 2007 R2 is scheduled for release in the summer of 2008. This release will replace CM's reporting system with a new one based on SQL Server Reporting Services, will have much deeper integration with SoftGrid (Microsoft's OS virtualization and application distribution product for desktops and terminal servers), and will improve support for distributing updates and signature files for Forefront Client Security—Microsoft's upcoming antimalware product for corporations.

Windows Server Update Services

Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) is Microsoft's tool for centrally authorizing and distributing Microsoft OS and application patches, as well as new software feature and service packs and is popular with organizations that have at least one IT professional who keeps PCs up to date with the latest Microsoft security patches and service packs. WSUS gives an organization more control over which patches get applied and when patching takes place than they would get by configuring every PC to update itself periodically from the Microsoft Update Web site. Although SMS 2003 can perform the same functions, WSUS is simpler and is free. However, unlike SMS, WSUS is not a general-purpose inventory and software distribution tool and cannot be used to install applications on PCs.

WSUS 3.0 is a modest upgrade to WSUS 2.0 boasting an improved management interface, support for more complex topologies, and better reporting capabilities. Released in May 2007, WSUS 3.0 also introduces a new API that transforms WSUS into a platform that allows developers to extend it with add-on software that provides software distribution functionality; this functionality is not exposed in the free WSUS base product but is used by System Center Essentials (described later). WSUS 3.0 can run on and manage Longhorn servers.

Operations Manager

Operations Manager enables administrators to centrally monitor the health and performance of Windows computers, particularly servers, and take diagnostic and corrective actions. The product includes a collection of management packs (MPs) with rules for managing Windows OS services, such as Active Directory and Internet Information Services. Microsoft and other vendors offer additional MPs for monitoring both Microsoft server products (such as SQL Server) and non-Microsoft products.

Operations Manager 2007 is the successor to Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) 2005. Shipped in late Mar. 2007, Operations Manager (OM) 2007 is the first version to use a new MP architecture that incorporates Microsoft's System Definition Model language, which makes it easier to build MPs that can monitor IT services spanning multiple computers, such as an application that includes multiple Web servers, a database server, and a front-end load-balancing device. OM 2007 introduced an Audit Collection Service for collecting security data from servers, and integrates with Windows Error Reporting (Watson) to capture computer and application crash data from large numbers of client and server computers. OM 2007 is better optimized for monitoring unmanned Windows Vista or XP devices and MPs for Internet Explorer and Office are included. The new version also has a more extensive SDK and authoring tools to help developers create MPs, which could ultimately expand the number of MPs for non-Microsoft applications. It also supports the new PowerShell scripting environment.

OM 2007 Update. Microsoft plans an update to OM 2007 in late summer or fall of 2007 to allow OM 2007 to run on and manage Longhorn servers. The company has not yet decided whether this will take the form of a service pack or a hotfix.

The next release of Operations Manager is planned for the second half of 2008. Although Microsoft has not yet decided whether this will be a minor R2 release or a major release, the product will incorporate the Smarts technology that Microsoft recently acquired from EMC, which will provide integrated monitoring of Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) network devices.

Reporting Manager

Reporting Manager 2006 extracts data from MOM 2005, SMS 2003, and Active Directory, consolidates it into a data warehouse, and generates both canned and custom reports using SQL Server Reporting Services. By correlating data from multiple sources, Reporting Manager can provide better diagnostic and performance information, such as when a change introduced by SMS breaks an application. Reporting Manager also allows consolidation of data from multiple disparate MOM or SMS systems.

An update was originally planned for the second half of 2007 that would add support for OM 2007 and CM 2007 and enable data to be integrated from other sources, such as a trouble-ticketing system or third-party network management software. However, this planned release has been scrapped and Microsoft is discontinuing the stand-alone version of Reporting Manager. It will instead fold its functionality into the new Service Manager product (described below).

Capacity Planner

Capacity Planner 2006 uses modeling and simulation to identify performance bottlenecks, predict the effects of changes, and optimize hardware resources when planning. The 2006 release is limited to modeling Exchange and MOM 2005 scenarios and requires manual entry of all parameters—it cannot discover the required data itself or read information from MOM or SMS databases. SP1 added support for running the tool on Windows Vista and for modeling low-speed WAN connections. The tool is free to customers with a TechNet subscription, but it is not available for purchase separately.

Capacity Planner 2007 is a follow-on release that will be able to simulate more complex environments and model more Microsoft products, including OM 2007. It is in beta and scheduled for release in the third quarter of 2007.

Data Protection Manager

Data Protection Manager (DPM) 2006 enables network backup of files from Windows file servers to disk-based storage, including direct-attached, network-attached, and storage area network drives. DPM 2006 can take backups many times per day, thereby reducing file restore times and the risk of lost data. It also lets users restore files without IT assistance, removing a source of numerous help desk calls. DPM 2006 backs up only ordinary files; it excludes data in databases, such as the Windows Registry, Active Directory, Exchange, and SQL Server. Consequently, companies still have to back up production servers by some means other than DPM. The current version will not be able to run on or back up Longhorn servers.

DPM 2007, currently in beta and scheduled for release in the second half of 2007, will remove these limitations. In addition to backing up the previously mentioned database stores, DPM will add native tape drive support, will support backing up virtual machines hosted by Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1, and will also support full "bare metal" restoration of a complete server OS and applications. DPM 2007 will be able to run on and back up Longhorn servers, and some new DPM features, such as bare metal restoration, will require Longhorn.

Application Center

Application Center 2000 is a server product for managing Windows multitier applications. It includes software deployment, configuration, and monitoring tools for Web server and COM application components and provides a COM+ Load Balancing service to enable deployment of COM+ components on farms of servers. SP2 for Application Center 2000 was released in June 2001, and no further development has taken place since then. Mainstream support for Application Center 2000 ended July 11, 2006. Microsoft is offering Extended support for Application Center until July 12, 2012.

No future releases are planned for Application Center. Some of its functions have been taken over by Windows Server 2003 (network load balancing) and OM 2007 (health monitoring), some have been deprecated (COM+ load balancing), and the Web site deployment functionality will be handled by CM 2007.

New System Center Products

One new product line was added to the System Center family in May 2007 and two more will be added in 2007 and 2008.

Essentials 2007 combines WSUS 3.0 and a subset of OM 2007 features into a unified product with a simplified console designed specifically for administrators in small and midsize businesses. The product shipped in May 2007. Essentials is also a replacement for MOM 2005 Workgroup Edition, which was designed for monitoring up to 10 servers and was not carried forward in OM 2007. Once OM 2007 and WSUS 3.0 get Longhorn support, Essentials will be able to run on Longhorn. Microsoft has not yet disclosed information on the successor to Essentials 2007.

Service Manager 2008 will support trouble ticketing and problem resolution, and it will integrate with OM, CM, and other System Center management products. Formerly known under the code name Service Desk, Service Manager will have three major modules: incident and problem management, asset life-cycle management, and change management. All modules will share a common database, workflow engine, and Web-based interface. Companies will be able to deploy customizations (e.g., for security vulnerability assessment and patching processes) through solution packs similar to OM MPs. Service Manager is in beta and release is planned for the first half of 2008. It will run on Longhorn.

Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) 2008 will allow administrators to quickly create and deploy new virtual machines (VMs) with the OS and applications fully installed and preconfigured. It will also include physical-to-virtual tools that make it easier to convert the OS and applications on a physical server into a VM. VMM will use models and historical information from OM 2007 to place VMs on the physical server that has the best combination of free resources and performance for the specific needs of the application. However, it will support VMs hosted only on Virtual Server 2005 R2, which requires either Windows Server 2003 or Longhorn as the host OS. Formerly code-named Carmine, VMM is currently in beta testing and planned for release in the fourth quarter of 2007. The VMM 2008 server can also be hosted on Longhorn.

Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2. A follow-on release will allow VMM 2008 to manage VMs hosted on the Windows Server Virtualization technology (code-named Viridian) which will give Longhorn server native ability to host VMs. Viridian is scheduled to ship within six months of Longhorn, which means Viridian should be available sometime in the first half of 2008. The release of VMM 2008 R2 is planned to roughly coincide with the release of Viridian.

Resources

SMS 2003 SP3 and AssetMetrix are described in "Vista Support, Improved Asset Tracking in SMS 2003 SP3" on page 16 of the Mar. 2007 Update.

Windows Vista's new image-based OS deployment technology is described in "Windows Vista Setup Eases Deployment" on page 3 of the July 2006 Update.

SoftGrid is described in "Softricity Acquisition Paves Way to OS Virtualization" on page 14 of the July 2006 Update.

OM 2007 is covered in depth in "Operations Manager 2007 Explored" in the June 2007 Update.

Microsoft's deal to license Smarts from EMC is detailed in "Network-Device Management Partnership" on page 12 of the May 2007 Update.

WSUS 3.0 and Essentials are described in "Two Management Products for Midsize Businesses in Beta" on page 17 of the Nov. 2006 Update.

Reporting Manager 2006 is described in "System Center Reporting Manager 2006 Nears Completion" on page 6 of the Mar. 2006 Update.

Capacity Planner 2006 is described in "Capacity Planner 2006 Ships" on page 20 of the Jan. 2006 Update.

Data Protection Manager 2006 is described in "Data Protection Manager Ships" on page 10 of the Nov. 2005 Update.

Virtual Machine Manager and Service Manager details can be found in "Two New Management Products Coming" on page 17 of the June 2006 Update.