Reporting in Essentials 2007 provides a very simple method to generate a report. SQL Server 2005 Express as well as other higher editions of Yukon are supported. Reports can contain data from the following sources: WSUS Operations Manager AEM The reporting feature in Essentials 2007 is available immediately after installation without performing any additional steps. There are four reports that are...

Read More... No Comments 08:17 - Mar 31, 2008

Remote Operations Manager 2007 is a partner solution to provide remote managed services to small and midsize customers. ROM 2007 simplifies the monitoring of distributed systems, enabling IT service providers to respond immediately to issues that affect the organization's IT environment. Easy-to-follow configuration documentation and support is available from Microsoft. At the service provider...

Read More... No Comments 15:18 - Mar 28, 2008

SQL Server is a very sophisticated technology that requires expert tuning, maintenance and monitoring. SQL Server is used by many applications and services and must be stable or its dependant products will be unreliable. Very large IT infrastructures have dedicated teams for each element of the infrastructure. In smaller companies a dedicated DBA is rarely an option. Dedicated tools are needed to aid...

Read More... No Comments 15:50 - Mar 27, 2008

WSUS 3.0 SP1 will soon be available from Windows Update . But Essentials 2007 users should not download the update from Windows Update. Hopefuly you have already heard that for planning purposes, WSUS 3.0 SP1 should not be applied to Essentials 2007 directly. Additionally, System Center Essentials 2007 RTM will not be upgraded to WSUS 3.0 SP1. Essentials 2007 SP1 includes WSUS 3.0 SP1. These are the...

Read More... No Comments 10:10 - Mar 24, 2008

Time to start thinking about attending Microsoft Management Summit 2008 from April 28 to May 2 in Las Vegas, Nevada. IT professionals interested in learning more about WSUS 3.0 SP1 and how it interacts Essentials 2007 SP1 will have a chance to have their questions answered during two sessions on the topic, Partners can attend a session and learn more about Remote Operations Manager 2007 and how it...

Read More... No Comments 10:44 - Mar 21, 2008

I spotted a couple more articles on the partnership with N-able and Essentials 2007, First, in the New York Times Small Business section, N - Able Technologies, Microsoft to Market Managed Services . Then in the Ottawa Blog: Microsoft Integration . N-able Technologies is based out of Ottawa, so it's more of a 'local boy makes good' story.

Read More... No Comments 10:40 - Mar 20, 2008

Just a reminder that TechEd 2008 for IT Professionals will be this June 10-13, 2008 in Orlando Florida. Register by Friday, April 4, 2008, to receive the discounted rate of just $1,795—that's $200 off the regular rate of $1,995. Registering now will also give you a better selection of room choices. Here is you chance to speak with experts on the newly released Essentials 2007 SP1. Technical tracks...

Read More... No Comments 10:30 - Mar 20, 2008

It is possible to install a Microsoft System Center Essentials 2007 agent on a computer that is running Microsoft Internet Server Acceleration (ISA) Server 2006 or Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2004. Back to the top To configure an ISA Firewall configuration with a System Center Essentials 2007 agent, you must manually install the agent. Then, you must create access rules...

Read More... No Comments 18:07 - Mar 19, 2008

Here is a great opportunity to have your voice heard and influence future versions of software. Microsoft User Research is looking for IT professionals to participate in a user research study. The purpose is to learn from those who perform IT services for their company; such as routine server maintenance tasks, various levels of troubleshooting, daily server, network or desktop management, and the...

Read More... No Comments 13:51 - Mar 18, 2008

I spotted a couple articles further dicussing the new partnership between N-able, a Microsoft Gold Certified partner, and System Center Essentials 2007. N-able Technologies(R) to Deliver Next Level of Interoperability to Managed Service Providers Worldwide N-able inks interoperability deal with Microsoft In case you missed it, yesterday's post was an inteview with N-able's VP of R&D, August...

Read More... 1 Comment(s) 12:28 - Mar 18, 2008

N-able (pronounced en-able ) announced today that they will be partnering with System Center Essentials 2007 to provide a remote management solution for midsized businesses. Here is an interview with August Wehrmann, Vice President of Research & Development at N-able Technologies to help explain this new product. Who is N-able? N-able Technologies is a global supplier of remote management technology...

Read More... 1 Comment(s) 10:35 - Mar 17, 2008

ISSUE: When you install the Microsoft System Center Essentials 2007 reporting feature, the installation may be unsuccessful. Additionally, you may receive an error message that resembles the following: SRS Server Validation Error CAUSE The Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) computer that is running SQL Server Reporting Services has the default Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) port for the Web site...

Read More... No Comments 06:57 - Mar 14, 2008

Essentials 2007 generates errors in setup wizard and/or in report deployment You may experience one of the following problems in Microsoft System Center Essentials 2007: Problem 1 You cannot install server roles or reporting components for System Center Essentials 2007. The following error message is returned by Windows Installer: The setup wizard was interrupted before System Center Operations Manager...

Read More... No Comments 12:36 - Mar 13, 2008

I've been watching the forums and two questions seem to be cropping up repeatedly. One is on using the SP1 feature that allows managing workgroup servers. I must have intuited this question since yesterday's post was on this very topic. The second question has to do with applying SP1 to a system. You will need to update your agents on all systems and you will need to upgrade your remote consoles...

Read More... No Comments 12:22 - Mar 13, 2008

Management of workgroup-joined computers is now supported in Essentials 2007 SP1. Supporting the management of workgroup-joined computers requires additional configuration on the Essentials 2007 management server, as well as additional preparation on the managed computers. For detailed instructions on preparing the management server to manage workgroup-joined computers in Essentials 2007 see http:...

Read More... 5 Comment(s) 12:27 - Mar 12, 2008

I just ran across a great post by Tom Swanson on how he monitors MySQL using Essentials 2007 . Check it out! In his post, Tom describes the steps he took to create custom monitors and how to work around monitoring ODBC drivers. The steps include: Make a custom monitor that checks all the MySQL services are running OK Watch for the particular ports used by MySQL to make sure they are live from outside...

Read More... No Comments 11:45 - Mar 12, 2008

I just received word from the Product Manager for Essentials 2007, Rene Garcia. Microsoft System Center Essentials 2007 SP1 has just been announced at Microsoft Convergence in Orlando, Florida. You can download the product at: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sce/cc304525.aspx Several new enhancements have been added to Service Pack – all of them have been requests from users of Essentials. · Support...

Read More... No Comments 10:00 - Mar 10, 2008

In an earlier post I identified a number of partner management packs for use with Essentials 2007. There are loads of additional custom MPs that don't show up in the standard Microsoft catalogue that can be used either as is or with slight modifications customized for your specific needs. Here is a summary of what is currently available: You can start with the Microsoft catalogue and see what is...

Read More... No Comments 12:44 - Mar 07, 2008

Problem: In Microsoft System Center Essentials 2007, you import updates from partner catalogs. When you do this, you experience the following symptoms. Symptom 1 The update source files are not correctly downloaded to the server that is running System Center Essentials 2007 during the import process. These files can not be distributed to the managed hosts. Symptom 2 When selecting Import updates from...

Read More... No Comments 17:20 - Mar 06, 2008

Posted at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;949389&sd=rss&spid=12684 The following issues have been fixed in System Center Essentials 2007 SP1: 943111 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943111/) Description of System Center Essentials 2007 post-release hotfix rollup 936339 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936339/) Windows-based computers are not displayed in the Network...

Read More... No Comments 11:38 - Mar 05, 2008

SCENARIO Run Microsoft System Center Essentials 2007 in Service Provider mode. You may experience the following symptoms related to agent approval: Symptom 1 After a System Center Essentials 2007 server is configured to Service Provider mode, computers managed by the Operations Manager server must be discovered and then approved in Operations Manager. However, it may take several hours to approve these...

Read More... No Comments 12:19 - Mar 04, 2008

Next week, from March 11 to 14, Microsoft hosts Convergence 2008 in Orlando, Florida. I've already posted about the planned seminars on how to simplify IT management , manage IT infrastructure and supporting end-users all with Essentials 2007. Convergence brings customers together in a venue surrounded by product knowledge experts in order to improve the use of existing technologies and learn about...

Read More... No Comments 09:20 - Mar 03, 2008