System Center Advisor Watches Servers

System Center Advisor (previously code-named Atlanta) was released in Feb. 2012. Advisor is a Microsoft online service that uses a local agent to watch for errors or configuration problems with Windows Server, Exchange Server, SharePoint Server, and SQL Server installations and alert administrators via a Web Portal and e-mail. Advisor is only available (at no charge) for customers with Software Assurance (SA) on the servers being examined and may be used as long as SA is active. A 60-day trial is available to customers who want to evaluate the service.

Periodic Reporting on Problems

Initially, Advisor only worked with Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2 and SQL Server 2008 and 2008 R2; however, an Apr. 2012 update enabled Advisor to watch Exchange Server 2010, SharePoint Server 2010, and SQL Server 2012. Microsoft may add other server products in the future.

Advisor consists of three main components: an agent, a gateway server at the customer site, and a Microsoft hosted service. A local agent runs on each server to be watched and forwards reports about health and configuration information to the online service through the gateway server.