- Topics Mentioned
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- Microsoft System Center
Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2012 beta has been released. As an upgrade to Configuration Manager 2007, SCCM 2012 brings those updates that follow the experience gained from large-scale deployments in the real world.
Changes to multi-primary site hierarchy and the addition of database replication to simplify administration and reduce overhead are two such improvements. In addition, SCCM 2012 debuts new Configuration Manager features that both expand the product’s functionality and broaden its scope of use.
System Center Configuration Manager 2012 Site Administration
With Configuration Manager 2007, environments with multiple primary sites designated one of the primary sites to be a central site. The central site functioned not only as a primary site but as the top-level of the SCCM 2007 site hierarchy. In SCCM 2012, a new administration only site, called the central administration site, sits atop the Configuration Manager architecture.
Unlike a central site, the central administration site does not function as a full-featured primary site. Instead, the central administration site is used for facilitating communications between primary sites and for reporting purposes. It does not directly support client assignments or processing client data.
Another key change is how boundaries function. Primary sites are no longer used as the boundary for client agent settings or for security and permissions. Boundaries are now defined once for the entire hierarchy and usable by all sites.
The new central administration site and boundary structure allows for the administration of hierarchy-wide configurations for client agents and discovery. Sites no longer set the administrative boundaries. A new role-based administration security setup allows for security settings to be set and managed centrally rather than on a site by site bases, a design that left many companies duplicating security settings on multiple sites for each administrator.
A new Configuration Manager 2012 console makes it all manageable. The Configuration Manager 2012 console offers some new features to make administering complex environments easier. A new ribbon interface feature provides quicker access to frequently used functions, and a very usable search feature has been integrated throughout the console. Search is especially important for finding those annoying machines with poorly reported failures or glitches that seem to pop up at the worst time.
Image courtesy of Microsoft Technet
For easier everyday management, the console has been broken out into four workspaces: Administration, Software Library, Monitoring and Assets and Compliance. The new workspaces make it easier to focus on specific operations relating to everyday functions, or for administrators to be assigned specific focus over say, monitoring, while other administrators can focus on software distribution.
Configuration Manager 2012 Database Replication
The other big change coming with SCCM 2012 is database replication for site-to-site data transfer and backup and recovery. Extending beyond SCCM 2007′s file-based replication, SCCM 2010 couples replicated databases across sites with the new boundary construction to permit hierarchy-wide administration. Configurations and settings use SQL Server to transfer data and updates from one site’s database to other databases in each site, allowing all sites to share the same information.
Database replication also provides a new layer of backup and recovery. SCCM 2012 leverages database replication to pull data from functioning sites back into the database of a failed site, which provides minimal data loss, even if no backup is available.
Backup and recovery in SCCM 2012 is done via the Configuration Manger 2012 Setup Wizard rather than the Site Repair Wizard used in SCCM 2007. This allows for multiple recovery options following a site failure. You can recover both the site server and the SQL Server, or just the site server. In the event that the database is the issue, you can even recover just the SQL Server, including the ability to move the SQL Server to another machine if necessary.
Configuration Manager Device Management
Enrolling mobile devices is now natively supported in SCCM 2012 with the help of IIS Server and a Microsoft enterprise certification authority. This is good news for environments where users are becoming increasingly dependent upon smart phones and tablets.
A new Exchange Server connector in SCCM 2012 offers a new way to find and manage those mobile devices that aren’t found via Active Directory or that can’t have the client installed. Using the Exchange ActiveSync protocol, mobile devices are managed according to the settings configured in Configuration Manager, rather than by default Exchange ActiveSync mailbox policies.
Also, changes to how member collection data are gathered should reduce the overhead of collection evaluations in SCCM 2012. The new method uses incremental collection member evaluation scanning to frequently scan only for new or changed resources, keeping data up to date without the overhead of a full collection evaluation.
Software and Content Management with SCCM 2012
In Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2012, software update groups replace update lists and deployments that were used in SCCM 2007. This should be a more efficient means of creating and maintaining efficient software update and deployment groups. Software can be manually added to software update groups or they can be automatically added to groups using an automatic deployment rule. Rather than using subgroups to control the pace of a rollout, rules are now used to progressively increase the membership of a software update group at the desired pace.
Unlike SCCM 2007, SCCM 2012 provides a single instance store for content files. Before content files are downloaded and copied to distribution points, Configuration Manager checks if the files already exist in the content library. If so, a pointer is added to the existing file without copying the data across the network to the distribution point. This not only reduces network traffic, it also minimizes the overall size of the content library.
There are plenty of other new features and fixes in SCCM 2012 beta, including new roles and the elimination of some old roles. It looks like SCCM 2012 is going to be a very compelling update to a core System Center offering on the heels of System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 SP1.
Microsoft System Center Content Manager 2012 Beta is available for download from Microsoft now.
Learn More
If you’re interested in learning more about System Center Configuration Manager 2012 Beta, you can learn more at Microsoft.com:
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