Jan. 14, 2008
MCP Magazine News
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Greg's Weekly quickTip: Systems Center Essentials
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IN THIS ISSUE:
- Weekly quickTip: A Crystal Ball into Your Network
- Redmond Radio: Microsoft Buys Fast Technology; Raikes To
Retire
- IT Events: TechMentor San Francisco; Open Source IT
Specialist
- Special Offers: Insider Threats; Orion Network Performance
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GREG'S WEEKLY QUICKTIP: A Crystal Ball into Your Network
By Greg Shields
Proactively managing a Windows network is more than
answering calls
from users when problems occur -- that's called
firefighting.
Proactive management is about gaining a situational
awareness of
what's going on in your environment and acting before
problems
occur. At the same time, it's also being able to
automatically
update and install patches, software and configurations to
machines
without having to touch them one by one.
This week's quickTIP is the first of four on System Center
Essentials,
humorously pronounced "ski" by the Microsoft blue
badges. (I wonder
if any of them are snowboarders...) This tool, designed with
the
smallest networks in mind, gives the little guys the same
management
power as what's in the largest Windows environments. Need to
install
Acrobat anywhere? Package it and automatically install it
everyone
without leaving your chair. Need to watch for disk drives
running
out of space? Configure an alert to send you an e-mail
before
it happens.
Why do I want to talk about this particular software?
Because with
it alone, you, the small-environment administrator, can get
some of
your life back.
SCE is designed as a combination of the software update and
management components of Microsoft?s System Center
Configuration
Manager (formerly SMS), plus the management capabilities
that come
with Systems Center Operations Manager (formerly MOM).
Layered over
the top is a skin that makes easier some of the traditional
configuration tasks associated with these enterprise-scaled
tools,
while at the same time allowing for the rich configurations
they
natively provide.
For you, the little network admin, what do you get for your
$2,929
retail price? You get the ability to manage and monitor up
to 10
servers and 50 workstations. You gain the capability to push
software and configuration updates using the same WSUS
mechanisms
that now push your patches only. You also get a tool that
centralizes all your event log information into a single
location
that can be configured to page your mobile device when
problems
occur -- or rather, before they do.
If you haven't figured this out already, I'm a big fan of
Microsoft's newest SMB management platform. Over the next
three
columns, I'll tell you some of the specifics why.
Stay tune for next time, when I tell you about SCE's
discovery
and inventory capabilities that fill reports on your
servers' and
workstations' composition.
Comment: http://mcpmag.com/columns/article.aspx?editorialsid
=2448#post
Greg Shields, MCSE: Security, CCEA, is an independent
author,
instructor, and consultant based in Denver, Colo. A
contributing
editor to Redmond magazine, MCPmag.com and a popular speaker
at
TechMentor events, Greg?s recent book Windows Server 2008:
What's
New/What's Changed, is now available at www.sapienpress.com.
gshields redmondmag.com
Check out MCPmag.com's column archive for more savvy tips
and tricks
from Jeff, Greg Shields, Chris Wolf and other frequent
contributors.
http://mcpmag.com/columns/
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REDMOND RADIO for The Week of Jan. 14
Hosted by Michael Domingo -- Take a quick listen to what
made news
last week in the world of Redmond and IT:
* Microsoft Buys Fast Technology
* Microsoft's Raikes To Retire
* Study: MSN Most Dangerous IM Client in 2007
* Best Buy Sales Up in December
Plus, listen to find out how to enter the weekly Redmond
T-Shirt
Giveaway, as well as enter the upcoming TechMentor
All-Access
Pass Giveaway, exclusive only to Redmond Radio listeners:
http://mcpmag.com/webcasts/mcpradio/radio.asp?id=274
iTunes/iPodder listeners: Download the show automatically by
pointing
your applet at http://mcpmag.com/rs
s/podcasts/.
Problems listening to the podcast? Write to mdomingo1105media.com and
describe the problem to get help. We want you to listen if
you want to
hear it!
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IT EVENTS OF INTEREST TO MCPMAG.COM READERS:
- Jan. 30: Open Group IT Specialist Conference
San Francisco: First conference for IT specialists features
keynotes,
real-world case studies and panel discussions featuring
experts from
Capgemini, EDS, IBM and others. http://www.ope
ngroup.org/itsc-jan2008/
- Feb. 10-13: Microsoft Office System Developer Conference
San Jose: Conference with more than 70 sessions on
development with
Office and Sharepoint.
https://microsoft.crgevents.com/ODC2008/Con
tent/default.aspx?p=UC3HYF
- March 7-13: O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference
San Diego: Deep-think conference on topics ranging from
robotics,
health care, and space travel to gaming, finance, and art in
relation
to technology. http://confer
ences.oreillynet.com/etech
- March 30-April 3: TechMentor San Francisco
Tenth anniversary of IT event includes more than 140
sessions on
Windows Powershell, Windows 2008 server, security and
technical
advice on managing Windows-based networks.
http://techmento
revents.com/2008/sf/
- April 27-May 2: Interop
Las Vegas: More than 500 exhibitors and 200 sessions for IT
and
networking experts. http://www.interop.com/
For more security events, go to http://mcpmag.com/events/.
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SPECIAL OFFERS FOR MCPMAG.COM READERS:
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** Discounted: Windows Networking Books at Amazon.com
Need real-world network troubleshooting help? This book's
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