Systems Management, Security, and Identity Management

The current wave of releases for the entire System Center line became available in Apr. 2012, and two new products were added. Most System Center 2012 products are not available separately but only as components of two System Center licensing bundles: System Center 2012 Standard and System Center 2012 Datacenter, each containing licenses for eight System Center 2012 products. (See the sidebar “System Center Product Names“.) Further updates to System Center are likely to arrive in a service pack at about the time Windows Server 2012 is released in late 2012.

For client management, updated versions of two tools and one new tool are included in the 2011 R2 version of the Desktop Optimization Pack, and further additions are expected in 2012. An update to Windows Intune, Microsoft’s online PC management product, was released in June 2012.

The Forefront line of security products protects Windows PCs, servers, and the network edge from viruses, spyware, and other malware. Endpoint Protection 2010 and the first service pack for the Unified Access Gateway remote access product were released in Dec. 2010, and updates to two edge protection products appeared in Oct. 2011. Endpoint Protection 2012, released in Apr. 2012, drops the Forefront branding and joins System Center.