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Template User Instructions
Infrastructure Planning and Design
Microsoft® System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP1 with R2
Version 1.0
Published: October 2008
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Configuration Manager
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Contents
The Planning and Design Series Approach 1
Introduction to the Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Guide 3
Configuration Manager in Microsoft Infrastructure Optimization 5
Configuration Manager Design Process 6
Step 1: Define the Project Scope 8
Step 2: Determine Which Roles Will Be Deployed 13
Step 3: Determine the Number of Sites Required 17
Step 4: Design the Sites 19
Step 5: Determine the Number of Hierarchies Required 29
Step 6: Design Each Hierarchy 30
Conclusion 31
Appendix A: Client Population Job Aid 32
Appendix B: Number of Configuration Manager Sites and Hierarchies Requirements Job Aid 33
Acknowledgments 34
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Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP1 with R2 33
The Planning and Design Series Approach
This guide is one in a series of planning and design guides that clarify and streamline the planning and design process for Microsoft® infrastructure technologies.
Each guide in the series addresses a unique infrastructure technology or scenario. These guides include the following topics:
· Defining the technical decision flow (flow chart) through the planning process.
· Describing the decisions to be made and the commonly available options to consider in making the decisions.
· Relating the decisions and options to the organization in terms of cost, complexity, and other characteristics.
· Framing the decision in terms of additional questions to the organization to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the appropriate business landscape.
The guides in this series are intended to complement and augment the product documentation.
Document Approach
This guide is designed to provide a consistent structure for addressing the decisions and activities that are most critical to the successful implementation of the Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (ConfigMgr) 2007 SP1 with R2 infrastructure.
Each decision activity is subdivided into four elements:
· Background on the decision or activity, including context setting and general considerations.
· Typical options or tasks involved with performing the activity.
· A reference section that evaluates the tasks in terms of cost, complexity, and manageability.
· Questions for the organization that may have a significant impact on decisions to be made.
The following table lists the full range of characteristics discussed in the evaluation sections. Only those characteristics relevant to a particular option or task are included in each section.
Table 1. Architectural Characteristics
Characteristic / DescriptionComplexity / The complexity of this option relative to other options.
Cost / The initial setup cost and sustained cost of this option.
Fault Tolerance / How the decision supports the resiliency of the infrastructure. This will ultimately affect the availability of the system.
Performance / How the option will affect the performance of the infrastructure.
Scalability / The impact the option will have on the scalability of the infrastructure.
Security / Whether the option will have a positive or negative impact on overall infrastructure security.
Each of the design options is compared against the above characteristics and is subjectively rated to provide a relative weighting of the option against the characteristic. The options are not explicitly rated against each other as there are too many unknowns about the organization drivers to accurately compare them.
The ratings are relative and take two forms:
· Cost and complexity are rated as high, medium, or low.
· The remaining characteristics are rated on the scale listed in the following table.
Table 2. Impact on Characteristic
Symbol / Definition↑ / Positive effect on the characteristic.
→ / No effect on the characteristic, or there is no comparison basis.
↓ / Negative effect on the characteristic.
The characteristics are presented in either two-column or three-column tables. The two-column table is used when the characteristic is applicable to all options or when there are no options available—for example, when performing a task.
The three-column table is used to present an option, the description, and the effect—in that order—for the characteristic.
Who Should Use This Document
The content in this guide assumes that the reader is familiar with Configuration Manager concepts and is planning an implementation of Configuration Manager.
This document is written for use by information technology (IT) specialists, generalists, consultants, value-added resellers (VARs), or anyone who needs to design a Configuration Manager implementation.
The reader can use this document:
· Before the design process begins, to understand the critical design decisions that need to be made.
· During the design process, to ensure that decision makers stay aware of the overall parameters set by both IT and the business.
· After the design process has been completed, to validate that all critical design areas have been addressed.
Introduction to the Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Guide
This guide leads the reader through the process of planning a Configuration Manager infrastructure. The guide addresses the following fundamental decisions and tasks:
· Identifying which Configuration Manager features will be needed.
· Designing the components, layout, security, and connectivity of the Configuration Manager infrastructure.
Business objectives should be prioritized at the start of the project so that they are clearly understood and agreed on by IT and business managers.
Following this guide will result in a design that is sized, configured, and appropriately placed to deliver the stated business benefits, while considering the user experience, security, manageability, performance, capacity, and fault tolerance of the system.
The guide addresses the scenarios most likely to be encountered by someone designing a Configuration Manager infrastructure. Customers should consider having their architecture reviewed by Microsoft Customer Service and Support prior to implementation as that organization is best able to comment on the supportability of a particular design.
Figure 1 illustrates the relationship between the components that can work together to deliver a configuration management solution with Configuration Manager.
Figure 1. Configuration Manager architecture
The components can be designed in many different ways. Figure 1 shows the components in one implementation for illustrative purposes only.
A Configuration Manager instance can include three types of sites:
· Central site. There is one central site, which is the top of the site hierarchy. If there is only one site in the hierarchy, that site is both a central site and a primary site. This site requires a site server and a site database.
· Primary sites. These report up to either the central site or another primary site; there can be an unlimited number of tiers of primary sites. Each primary site requires a site server and a site database.
· Secondary sites. Each secondary site reports up to one primary site. A secondary site requires a site server, but not a database.
Assumptions
To limit the scope of material in this guide, the following assumptions have been made:
· The design being created is for Configuration Manager 2007 SP1 with R2.
· Active Directory® directory service is already designed. For assistance in designing Active Directory, see the Infrastructure Planning and Design Guide Windows Server 2008 Active Directory Domain Services at www.microsoft.com/ipd.
· Software prerequisites for the relevant features are met.
Feedback
Please direct questions and comments about this guide to .
Configuration Manager in Microsoft Infrastructure Optimization
The Infrastructure Optimization (IO) Model groups IT processes and technologies across a range of organizational maturity. (For more information, see http://www.microsoft.com/io.) The model was developed by industry analysts, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Center for Information Systems Research (CISR), and Microsoft’s own experiences with its enterprise customers. A key goal for Microsoft in creating the IO Model was to develop a simple way to use a maturity framework that is flexible and that can easily be applied as the benchmark for technical capability and business value.
IO is structured around three information technology models: Core Infrastructure Optimization, Application Platform Optimization, and Business Productivity Infrastructure Optimization. According to the Core IO Model, Configuration Manager can move an organization from a basic to a dynamic level of maturity. At a standardized level, the environment distributes software packages using manual processes. A rationalized level includes fully automatic software updates. A dynamic level of maturity requires asset management that includes automated compliance. This guide will assist you in planning and designing the infrastructure for a Configuration Manager implementation.
Figure 2. Mapping Configuration Manager technology into the Core IO Model
Infrastructure Architecture and Business Architecture
For additional information about business architecture tools and models, please contact a Microsoft representative or watch the video about this topic, available at http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=179071.
Configuration Manager Design Process
This guide addresses the following decisions and activities that must occur in planning the design for Configuration Manager. The six steps that follow represent the most critical design elements in a well-planned Configuration Manager design:
· Step 1: Define the Project Scope
· Step 2: Determine Which Roles Will Be Deployed
· Step 3: Determine the Number of Sites Required
· Step 4: Design the Sites
· Step 5: Determine the Number of Hierarchies Required
· Step 6: Design Each Hierarchy
Decision Flow
Figure 3 provides a graphic overview of the steps involved in designing a Configuration Manager infrastructure.
Figure 3. The Configuration Manager infrastructure decision flow
Applicable Scenarios
This guide addresses the planning and design decisions involved in creating a successful Configuration Manager infrastructure and is written to address the needs of the following groups:
· Organizations with no configuration management solution that want to use Configuration Manager.
· Organizations that presently use another configuration management solution and are planning to move to Configuration Manager.
· Organizations with multi-forest environments where Configuration Manager will be employed to manage systems that span Active Directory forest boundaries.
· Organizations that have distributed environments with systems separated by wide area network (WAN) links.
· Organizations with mobile devices, such as smartphones, that operate beyond firewalls but must be managed centrally.
· Organizations upgrading from Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 to Configuration Manager.
Out of Scope
This guide does not address the following:
· Multi-tenancy. Configuration Manager can be delivered as a hosted service for shared use by more than one organization.
· System Center Essentials. System Center Essentials is a separate product that includes both software update and operations management functions. It is specifically designed for midsize businesses (up to 500 PCs and 30 servers).
· Configuration Pack development. The standard Configuration Packs that are provided for use with Desired Configuration Management on Microsoft server applications, such as Exchange Server, can be extended. New Configuration Packs can also be created for other applications.
· In-place upgrade. If an organization is planning an in-place upgrade, the architectural choices will likely be significantly constrained by limitations of the existing system and its specific implementation. This guide does not attempt to address these permutations.
· Migration. If an organization is planning to install Configuration Manager as a new installation alongside an existing system and then switch over, then this guide considers that as a new installation. This guide, however, does not address the migration from the legacy system to Configuration Manager.
Step 1: Define the Project Scope
In Step 1, the project scope will be defined in order to align the goals of the project with the business motivation. The appropriate parts of the organization will be identified for inclusion in the project. Then one or more Configuration Manager features will be selected to meet the business goals. Configuration Manager is a powerful product with a rich feature set, and so it’s very important to determine which of its features to use.