Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003 Desired Configuration Monitoring 2.0

DCM can help you to reduce unplanned service downtime, correlate configuration data and reduce support costs. It provides you with an easy-to-use XML editing tool and guidance for defining hardware and software Configuration Items. DCM also provides detailed compliance reports to assist with detection and remediation of configuration errors. Figure 1 gives an overview of how DCM works.

Figure 1: How SMS 2003 Desired Configuration Monitoring works

DCM 2.0 monitors configuration settings in Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI), the system registry, the Internet Information Services metabase, Active Directory directory service, the SQL Server data source, and the Windows File System (WFS) and extends DCM version 1.0 by adding support for the SQL Server data source, SMS reporting, Windows desktop, x64, and .NET Framework 2.0. DCM 2.0 also adds predefined baseline Configuration Items for many Microsoft desktop and server products.

As a highlight to the solution update, DCM 2.0 includes a redesigned user interface (UI) to reduce the time needed for defining Configuration Items. The new user interface supports complex rule definition with the Advanced View and adds a wizard-based simplified UI for defining simple rules as the Standard View. The new UI also includes common rule templates and enables users to define common rules specific to their organizations. In addition, CI rules can now be viewed and edited in a table format. These changes dramatically reduce the time needed to define and edit Configuration Items when using DCM.

Figure 2: Standard view user interface in DCM 2.0

Table 1 provides a list of the minimum technology requirements that you will need in place to use SMS 2003 Desired Configuration Monitoring 2.0.

System Center Configuration Manager 2007

Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003 Desired Configuration Monitoring is a functional extension to SMS 2003 to provide system configuration definition and monitoring functionality. This solution was designed to provide a framework today to begin exploring the power of DCM prior to the release of System Center Configuration Manager (ConfigMgr) 2007. ConfigMgr 2007 will offer a fully integrated and supported implementation of these capabilities.

Top of page

Solution Implementation

DCM was developed in collaboration with the Microsoft Operations and Exchange Centers of Excellence and is applied internally at Microsoft. Microsoft IT uses SMS 2003 DCM to monitor Exchange and Windows Core Services (AD, DNS, DHCP, and WINS) configurations. The core set of baseline configurations available with the DCM version 2.0 solution are intended to help users get started with DCM. Microsoft Services offers a complete implementation service for DCM using configuration management best practices and includes expanded Configuration Items for core Microsoft products. For details about Microsoft Services offerings using DCM, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/microsoftservices or contact opsleads@microsoft.com.

Top of page

Additional Resources

Top of page