System Center Essentials
Encyclopedia
System Center Essentials (SCE or Essentials 2010), is a system management product from Microsoft
targeting Windows
systems for small and medium size businesses.
The product allows monitoring and alert resolution of server and client computer
s, applications, hardware, and network devices. Many Microsoft server products, such as Active Directory
, Microsoft SQL Server
, Microsoft Exchange Server
can be monitored with SCE. SCE can manage up to 500 Windows clients and 50 servers.
SCE uses the term management pack to refer to a set of filtering rules specific to some monitored application. While Microsoft and other software vendors make management packages available for their products, SCE also provides for authoring custom management packs. While an administrator role is needed to install agents, configure monitored computers and create management packs, rights to simply view the list of recent alerts can be given to any valid user account.
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
targeting Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
systems for small and medium size businesses.
The product allows monitoring and alert resolution of server and client computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
s, applications, hardware, and network devices. Many Microsoft server products, such as Active Directory
Active Directory
Active Directory is a directory service created by Microsoft for Windows domain networks. It is included in most Windows Server operating systems. Server computers on which Active Directory is running are called domain controllers....
, Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft SQL Server is a relational database server, developed by Microsoft: It is a software product whose primary function is to store and retrieve data as requested by other software applications, be it those on the same computer or those running on another computer across a network...
, Microsoft Exchange Server
Microsoft Exchange Server
Microsoft Exchange Server is the server side of a client–server, collaborative application product developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Servers line of server products and is used by enterprises using Microsoft infrastructure products...
can be monitored with SCE. SCE can manage up to 500 Windows clients and 50 servers.
Central concepts
The basic idea is to place a piece of software, an agent, on the computer to be monitored. The agent watches several sources on that computer, including the Windows Event Log, for specific events or alerts generated by the applications executing on the monitored computer. Upon alert occurrence and detection, the agent forwards the alert to the SCE server. This SCE server application maintains a database that includes a history of alerts. The SCE server applies filtering rules to alerts as they arrive; a rule can trigger some notification to a human, such as an e-mail or a pager message, or trigger some other workflow intended to correct the cause of the alert in an appropriate manner.SCE uses the term management pack to refer to a set of filtering rules specific to some monitored application. While Microsoft and other software vendors make management packages available for their products, SCE also provides for authoring custom management packs. While an administrator role is needed to install agents, configure monitored computers and create management packs, rights to simply view the list of recent alerts can be given to any valid user account.
See also
- Windows Server SystemWindows Server SystemMicrosoft Servers is a brand that encompasses a line of Microsoft server products. This includes the server editions of Microsoft Windows operating system itself, as well as products targeted at the wider business market...
- Microsoft System Center
- Microsoft Systems Management ServerMicrosoft Systems Management ServerSystem Center Configuration Manager , formerly Systems Management Server , is a systems management software product by Microsoft for managing large groups of Windows-based computer systems...
External links
- Getting Started with System Center Essentials 2007 at Microsoft TechnetMicrosoft TechNetMicrosoft TechNet is a Microsoft program and resource for technical information, news, and events for IT professionals. Along with a website, they also produce a monthly subscription magazine titled "TechNet Magazine"....