Configuration, Monitoring, and Backup Overview

Microsoft’s System Center family of systems management products shows several updates in 2008, with 2009 likely being a pivotal year as betas are released ahead of the next major wave of releases in 2010. These will probably include more integration with security products, such as the Forefront line for servers and clients, and additional emphasis on Service Modeling Language (SML) and PowerShell. (Naming and release dates for June 2008 and later in this chart are Directions on Microsoft estimates based on previous release cycles and code names.)

Configuration Manager 2007 (formerly code-named SMS v4) supports the new image-based installation technology of Windows Vista, among other capabilities. Configuration Manager 2007 SP1 was released in May 2008 for management of Windows Server 2008 and Hyper-V (Windows Server virtualization) virtual machines (VMs), among other features. Configuration Manager 2007 R2, planned for the second half of 2008, will support additional features such as Application Virtualization, SQL Reporting Services, and multicast image deployment. The following version has not been announced but is likely in 2010 (shown here as Configuration Manager v5).