September 2004 - Posts
In an effort to make it easier for folks to find information about Microsoft management technologies, Microsoft has released two portal pages for SMS and MOM. These pages will serve as a one-stop shop for matters related to SMS and MOM administration; with most content coming from 3rd party, community-driven sites.
SMS Community Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/smserver/community/default.mspx
MOM Community Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/mom/community/default.mspx
The Release Candidate for the Virtual Server 2005 Migration Toolkit (VSMT) is now available on the VSMT beta site.
http://beta.microsoft.com/source/BPProgInfo.asp?ProgID=1283000000&Page=default.htm
Highlights
- Support for migrating VMWare GSX virtual machines to Microsoft Virtual Server.
- Migration of non-English windows.
- Enhanced HAL and multiproc detection to minimize changes during migration.
- Enhanced error messages.
- New utility to load OS and patch files that may be necessary during a migration.
- Updated documentation
- Fixes to bugs encountered with the beta build.
3 more MOM MP Guides are live on the download center:
Global technology consultancy Avanade needed to streamline and shorten the onerous process of patching 250 servers across 30 worldwide locations. The old patch process regularly pulled 8 to 10 IT professionals away from their regular jobs or imposed late-night hours. Avanade installed Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003 (or SMS 2003), part of the Windows Server System integrated server software, to solve the problem. Using the automated patch management services provided by SMS 2003, Avanade now spends 1 hour deploying each security patch, versus the 40-plus hours previously required. This represents a 4,000 percent speedup and a savings of U.S.$1,800 per patch. SMS 2003 helps Avanade to immediately close security gaps and proactively control its IT assets. Insights provided by SMS 2003 have enabled Avanade to eliminate 10 servers and their associated management costs.
Full story: http://www.microsoft.com/resources/casestudies/CaseStudy.asp?CaseStudyID=15540
The focus for the release of SMS 2003 SP1 was raising the bar in security, reliability and scalability established by SMS 2003 at RTM, enable newly supported scenarios, and enable new products in the market such as the upcoming SMS Feature Packs and System Center.
To deliver on this vision, investments were made in the following areas in SMS 2003 SP1:
- Security Improvements
- Mutual authentication
- Client to server encryption
- Performance Improvements
- 2X improvement processing of hardware inventory (backend) over SMS 2003 RTM
- Hardware inventory completes (client scan) in 20% of time required by SMS 2003 RTM
- Multi-threaded content distribution allows us to scale to many more content distribution points and replicate content much faster
- Reliability Improvements
- Watson support for SMS server roles
- New Supported Platforms
- Support for Virtual PC and Virtual Server
- Support for XPSP2
- Enabling partners through SDK to extend SMS to non-Windows platforms
- Support for managing 64 bit platforms (both x64 and IA64)
- New Supported Configurations
- Support for managing devices that are not members of a domain (workgroup)
- Ability to customize HTTP port used by SMS
- Enhanced support for critical patch distribution scenario
Santa Clara, Calif.—September 9, 2004— Macrovision Corporation (Nasdaq: MVSN) today announced an agreement with Microsoft to deliver a special edition of AdminStudio with Service Pack 1 of Microsoft’s Systems Management Server 2003. AdminStudio SMS Edition provides Microsoft SMS customers with a suite of solutions that automates the complex process of preparing reliable application and patch packages for deployment across an enterprise.
SMS is an industry standard for change and configuration management for the Microsoft platform, enabling organizations to provide relevant software and updates to users quickly and cost-effectively. AdminStudio SMS Edition complements the powerful features of SMS 2003 with pre-deployment software packaging solutions that address a variety of common enterprise challenges. AdminStudio SMS Edition helps enterprises more quickly and efficiently migrate to Windows XP from legacy systems by automating complex conversions and packaging processes to ensure reliable deployment. Leveraging the capabilities of AdminStudio, SMS 2003 customers realize increased efficiencies, improved reliability and greater productivity.
"AdminStudio SMS Edition will bring great value to SMS customers by enabling quick, easy and efficient pre-deployment packaging," said David Hamilton, director of the Windows and Enterprise Management Division at Microsoft. "AdminStudio has the tightest integration with SMS 2003 available on the market and we’re excited to partner with Macrovision to extend the value of SMS 2003."
"This partnership is a major endorsement for AdminStudio and demonstrates Macrovision’s commitment to offering a standardized, independent software packaging solution that integrates with leading distribution systems," said Lynn Sweetwood, vice president for enterprise solutions at Macrovision. "We are looking forward to helping SMS customers maximize the value of their applications, increase productivity and simplify how they prepare software for distribution."
AdminStudio SMS Edition, which includes software packaging and customization tools, also features a web-based SMS console that enables systems administrators to prepare, publish and distribute applications through their SMS system without returning to the original SMS console. AdminStudio SMS Edition is available on September XX from Microsoft’s web site, for all evaluators and customers of Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003.
The Microsoft/Macrovision partnership builds on Macrovision’s 10+ years of strong ties to and support of several Microsoft development efforts, including founding membership of the SMS Alliance, Windows Installer (MSI) standardization for Windows 2000 & XP and joint development efforts with Microsoft’s SMS 2003 team.
This morning MS announced Virtual Server 2005 Standard and Enterprise Editions, including pricing; the press release is at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2004/sep04/09-13AvailabilityVS2005PR.asp.
This first version of Microsoft’s Virtual Machine solution for Windows Server 2003 helps customers reduce hardware costs and increase operational efficiency in three key scenarios: automation of software test and development environments; re-hosting of legacy applications; and consolidation of production server workloads such as networking, directory infrastructure or departmental applications. Many partners are also announcing support for Virtual Server 2005 today.
The Virtual Server web site also went live today – updated content is available at http://www.microsoft.com/virtualserver
With the recent release of MOM 2005, many potential administrators are asking “what are the maximum capacities that Microsoft will support with MOM 2005”?
To begin, there will be a limit of 4,000 managed computers per Management Group, with an additional limit of 2,000 managed computers per Management Server. There is also a limit of 10 management servers per any single management group.
The MOM 2005 OnePoint database is limited to 30GB in size, while the data warehouse is capped at a 1TB limit for historical data.
Thanks to Kerry Vinson, Consultant with Collective Technologies, for providing this data.