Product Description

This book is your most complete source for in-depth information about Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007!

 

System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Unleashed is a comprehensive guide to System Center Configuration Manager (ConfigMgr) 2007. ConfigMgr 2007 helps you manage servers and desktops, integrates SMS 2003 “feature pack” functionality, and adds new capabilities. It enables you to assess, deploy, and update servers, clients, and devices across physical, virtual, distributed, and mobile environments, including clients that connect only over the Internet. This book guides you through designing, deploying, and configuring ConfigMgr 2007 with detailed information on topics such as capacity planning, security, site design and hierarchy planning, server placement, discovery, native mode, and using Windows Server 2008. You will learn how to tackle challenges such as setting up DCM and OSD, customizing inventory, creating queries and using query results, and configuring asset intelligence.

 

Detailed information on how to…

 

•  Understand how ConfigMgr works

•  Plan your ConfigMgr deployment

•  Manage Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)

•  Architect for performance

•  Install or migrate to ConfigMgr 2007 with Windows 2003 or Windows 2008

•  Discover and manage clients

•  Create and distribute packages

•  Understand patch and compliance management

•  Create queries

•  Use reports

•  Deploy operating systems

•  Secure ConfigMgr 2007

•  Perform site maintenance

•  Back up ConfigMgr components

 

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #191579 in Books
• Published on: 2009-08-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 1224 pages

About the Author

Kerrie Meyler, MVP, is the lead author of Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 Unleashed and System Center Operations Manager 2007 Unleashed (Sams Publishing). She is an independent consultant and trainer with over 15 years of Information Technology experience. Kerrie was responsible for evangelizing SMS while a Sr. Technology Specialist at Microsoft, and has presented on System Center technologies at TechEd and MMS.

 

Byron Holt, an IT professional for over 15 years, has been a lead SMS and Configuration Manager engineer for several Global 5000 corporations and was part of the Active Directory and Enterprise Manageability support teams while working at Microsoft. Byron’s experience includes software development, security architecture, and systems management. Byron currently works for McAfee, in the security engineering team.

 

Greg Ramsey, Configuration Manager MVP, has worked with SMS and desktop deployment since 1998. He currently works for Dell, Inc., as a ConfigMgr administrator, and previously was a sergeant in the United States Marine Corps. Greg is a columnist for myITforum.com, cofounder of the Ohio SMS User Group and Central Texas Systems Management User Group, and creator of SMSView. Greg previously coauthored SMS 2003 Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach (Apress, 2006).

 

About the Contributors

 

Jason Sandys, a Senior Consultant at Catapult Systems, has over 10 years of experience in development and systems management. Jason concentrates on implementing and supporting Microsoft-centric solutions for a wide variety of customers, focusing primarily on Configuration Manager and Operations Manager. Jason presented at MMS and TechEd in 2009 on ConfigMgr native mode.

 

Cameron Fuller, MVP, is a Managing Consultant for Catapult Systems, an IT consulting company and Microsoft Gold Certified Partner. He focuses on management solutions, with 15 years of infrastructure experience. Cameron is the coauthor of Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 Unleashed and System Center Operations Manager 2007 Unleashed.

 

Anthony Puca, MVP, is a Senior Solution Architect for EMC, a Global System Integrator and Gold Certified Partner focused on information infrastructure. Anthony concentrates on management technologies, and presents frequently on System Center management technologies.

 

Peter Zerger, MVP, is a consulting partner with AKOS Technology Services. He has 10 years of experience in the IT industry. Pete is webmaster of System Center Central (http:// systemcentercentral.com), a popular community site focusing on the Microsoft System Center suite.

 

Jannes Alink, ConfigMgr consultant, works at Inovativ, a European consultancy with a dedicated focus on the System Center family. Jannes began as a support engineer and now consults in infrastructure management with System Center, with a primary focus on SMS 2003 and Configuration Manager 2007.

 

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Customer Reviews

Good info regarding SP1 and R2
I've had this book for a while, and have meant to write a review. Finally took a few minutes to write out my thoughts!

I really like it. It covers well all of the aspects of SP1, including some of the newer elements, which a current SMS2003 administrator might have little previous knowledge of, like Native mode, and DCM. And has some really great step-by-step guides for the most-often used reasons for ConfigMgr, like patching and Software Distribution. I especially appreciated the "Real World" and other tips when you are planning or configuring--the gotcha's that you might not see as obvious, but are obvious once you read their explanation.

As with any technical book, I always learn something new when reading a tech book. For me, I haven't had a work-related reason (yet) to dive deep into App-v with ConfigMgr, so reading that section gave me a good grounding for when that project comes up (because you know it will eventually).

This book is going to waste your time
I bought this book because of it's size and I naturally assumed, as many would, that it would be full of useful information and detail.

It wasn't.

The writers of this book seem to be trying to make the book as long as possible. There are paragraphs dedicated to pointless information that would only be useful to someone who's never used a computer (at one point, they actually clarify that "IT" stands for "Information Technology").

While it eventually taught me what I needed, I found myself wasting time reading paragraph after paragraph of fluff, just to get to one useful sentence. I'm reading System Center Operations Manager 2007 Unleashed now, also by Meyler, and it's the same bloated nonsense.

I highly recommend that you find a different SCCM book to learn from.

The SCCM book you were looking for
This is the third Configmgr-centric book on the market. And they finally got it right. While the previous books (from Sybex and Microsoft) were passible, they weren't a real **deep dive** into the app. Reading through this book, I get the impression some real love and care when into writing it.

I think OSD get short-shrifted again. Not nearly as bad as in the MS and Sybex books, but still gets less attention than it deserves. That said, its a minor quibble.

Being an SCCM admin for a company with 48k+ desktops and servers, I've been waiting for a good ConfigMgr reference guide. "SCCM2007 Unleashed" sits right in between my laptop and my monitor.