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Hi,
A great news >>>> System Center Configuration Manager
(SCCM) 2007 R3 is available!!!!! on Connect!
What’s New in Configuration Manager 2007 R3:
The following features are new and apply only to Configuration
Manager 2007 R3:
- Power Management. Provides a set of tools to allow
the site administrator to configure standard Windows power settings
across computers
- Operating System Deployment Enhancements. Prestaged
Media is a way to integrate with OEM factory imaging in order to
leverage imaging at the OEM to speed up new hardware deployments
- Dynamic Collection Evaluation. Allows you to more
rapidly evaluate a collection membership by adding only newly
discovered resources.
- Delta Discovery. Performs an intermediate discovery
cycle adding only new resources to the Configuration Manager 2007
database.
- Collections. Allows you to search for and add
resources to the specified collection.
- Desired Configuration Management. Allows you to
easily create collection of compliant or noncompliant computers in
desired configuration management.
- Supported Clients Per Hierarchy: Configuration
Manager 2007 R3 supports up to 300,000 clients per hierarchy when using
the default settings for all Configuration Manager 2007 features. This
increase in supported clients is the result of improvements to the
Active Directory synchronization and Collection Evaluation processes.
About Dynamic Collection Evaluation in Configuration Manager
2007 R3
Query-based collections in Configuration Manager 2007 are
periodically evaluated, based on a schedule you specify to update their
membership from the site database. Even if there are no changes in the
collection being evaluated, the entire collection is still processed.
The default period between collection evaluations is 1 day. You can
decrease this period, but evaluating collections with many members might
cause a high load on your site database.
Dynamic collection evaluation in Configuration Manager 2007 R3
allows you to evaluate only resources that have been newly added to a
collection. Because this improves the speed at which you can evaluate
collections and lessens the processing load on the site database, you
can increase the frequency by which you evaluate collections and
therefore keep the data shown in the administrator console more up to
date.
Important: Dynamic collection evaluation does not
replace the existing method of collection evaluation; it only evaluates
newly added resources
The following resources can be evaluated by dynamic collection
evaluation:
- Resources that have been initially discovered.
- Resources that have been provisioned with operating system
deployment.
- Resources that have been scanned for initial hardware inventory.
- Resources that have been upgraded to a newer version of the
Configuration Manager 2007 client.
About Delta Discovery in Configuration Manager 2007 R3
Delta Discovery in Configuration Manager 2007 R3 enhances the
discovery capabilities of the product by discovering only new or changed
resources in Active Directory instead of performing a full discovery
cycle. The interval by which delta discovery searches for new resources
can be configured by the user to a short interval as discovering new
resources only does not affect the performance of the site server as
much as a full cycle. Delta discovery can detect the following new
resource types:
- Computer objects
- User objects
- Security group objects
- System group objects
Important: Delta discovery is not a replacement for
other Configuration Manager 2007 discovery methods. Because it only
finds new or modified resources in Active Directory, it must be used in
conjunction with a discovery method that performs a full
synchronization with Active Directory
Note: Delta discovery only reads Active Directory
attribute changes which are replicated. Non-replicated attributes which
are changed such as the memberof attribute are not
collected by delta discovery unless a change to a replicated attribute
is made at the same time. Delta discovery is not enabled by default in
Configuration Manager 2007 R3. When enabled, it will run, by default
every 5 minutes
About Prestaged Media in Configuration Manager 2007 R3
Prestaged media for Configuration Manager 2007 R3 operating system
deployment contains bootable media and image files that are copied to
the hard drive of a computer. Prestaged media works in conjunction with
your existing task sequences to provide a complete operating system
deployment. The media can be accessed locally by a task sequence to
install a new operating system instead of downloading them across the
network. This allows operating system deployment where the computer
cannot otherwise be provisioned completely. It can also reduce network
traffic when deploying operating systems while still taking advantage of
task sequences.
Prestaged media is generally copied to the hard drive of a new
computer as a part of the computer manufacturing process or at an
enterprise staging center before the computer is sent to the end user.
The prestaged media consists of a .wim file that can be prestaged on a
“bare metal” computer. When the computer boots for the first time after
the prestaged media has been loaded, the computer will boot to WinPE
and connect to the site management point to check for available task
sequences.
When creating prestaged media, ensure the boot image you are using
has the appropriate network and mass storage drivers need for the
system to complete the provisioning process.
About Simplified Resource Management
Allows Administrators to search for and add resources to the
specified collection using right click tool.
About Power Management in Configuration Manager 2007 R3
The Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R3 power
management feature provides a set of tools and resources that can help
apply power settings to client computers in the enterprise and monitor
the power usage of computers. Click the associated link in the following
section for detailed information about planning, configuring,
managing, monitoring and troubleshooting power management.
Overview of Power Management
Power Management in Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager
2007 R3 addresses the need that many organizations have to monitor and
reduce the power consumption of their computers. The feature leverages
the power management features built in to Windows to apply relevant and
consistent settings to computers in the organization. Different power
settings can be applied during and outside of working hours. For
example, it might be acceptable to apply a more restrictive power plan
during non-peak hours. In cases where computers must always remain
switched on, you can prevent power management settings from being
applied.
There are three major components to power management in
Configuration Manager 2007 R3:
1. Monitoring and Planning: Power Management
extends the hardware inventory of Configuration Manager 2007 to collect
information about computer usage and power settings for computers in
the site. A number of reports are provided to allow you to analyze this
data and determine optimal power management settings for computers.
2. Enforcement: Power management allows you to
create power plans which can be applied to collections of computers in
your site. These power plans configure Windows power management
settings on computers. You can use the built in Windows power plans,
Balanced, High Performance and Power Saver or you can configure your
own custom power plans. Different power plans can be configured for
peak and non-peak working hours.
3. Compliance: After applying power plans to
computers in your organization, you can run reports to validate that
power settings were correctly applied and to calculate power savings
across collections of computers.
About Reports for Power Management
Power management in Configuration Manager 2007 R3 contains a number
of reports to help you to analyze power consumption and computer power
settings in your organization. These reports require SQL Reporting
Services which was introduced in Configuration Manager 2007 R2.
Power Management Plan Settings for Power Management
Power plans in Configuration Manager 2007 R3 contain Windows power
management settings which can be configured and applied to collections
of computers in your Configuration Manager 2007 R3 site.
Important: Depending on the version of Windows you
are using, some settings might not be configurable on the destination
client computer. For more information about the settings supported by
your version of Windows, see your Windows documentation
Prerequisites for Power Management
Power management in Configuration Manager 2007 R3 has both external
dependencies and dependencies within the product.
Configuration Manager 2007 Dependencies
The following table describes the dependencies within Configuration
Manager 2007 for using power management.
| Dependency |
More Information |
| The site server must be running Configuration Manager 2007 R3. |
Power management requires Configuration Manager 2007 R3. |
| Client computers in your site must be running the Configuration
Manager 2007 R3 client software. |
For information about upgrading the Configuration Manager 2007
client software, see Planning and Deploying Clients for Configuration
Manager 2007. |
| The Configuration Manager 2007 hardware inventory client agent must
be enabled for the site in which you are using power management. |
Power management in Configuration Manager 2007 R3 uses information
collected by hardware inventory. To use power management, you must
first enable hardware inventory for the site. |
| The site must be enabled for power management. |
Before you can use power management in Configuration Manager 2007
R3, you must enable the power management client agent. |
| SQL Reporting Services integration must be installed and
configured. |
The provided reports for power management require SQL Reporting
Services to run. SQL reporting services integration was introduced in
Configuration Manager 2007 R2 and is also included with Configuration
Manager 2007 R3. For information about installing and configuring SQL
Reporting Services, see SQL Reporting Services in Configuration Manager
2007 R2. |
Dependencies External to Configuration Manager 2007
The following table describes the dependencies within Configuration
Manager 2007 for using power management.
| Dependency |
More Information |
| The site must have access to an installation of Microsoft SQL
Reporting Services. |
Power management in Configuration Manager 2007 R3 uses SQL
Reporting Services to display reports. SQL reporting services must be
installed and configured for Configuration Manager 2007 before you can
display these reports. For more information, see SQL Reporting Services
in Configuration Manager 2007 R2. |
How to Enable or Disable the Power Management Client Agent
Enabling the power management client agent in Configuration Manager
2007 R3 makes it possible for client computers in this site to apply
power management plans configured in the Configuration Manager console.
The power management client agent is not enabled by default when you
install Configuration Manager 2007 R3.
Important: The power management feature in
Configuration Manager 2007 R3 uses data from hardware inventory on
client computers to work, therefore, enabling the power management
client agent will also enable the hardware inventory client agent on
computers in your site. If you disable the hardware inventory client
agent for your site, the power management client agent will also be
disabled. Disabling the power management client agent prevents
computers in your site from applying power plans created in the
Configuration Manager console.