What is System Center Essentials (SCE) 2007?

A. SCE 2007 is the first version of a Microsoft management and monitoring product aimed at midsized companies. It has limits of up to 30 servers and up to 500 workstations. The product can use Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on a local or remote server, or can use a local SQL Server 2005 Express edition, for the storage of its configuration and monitoring information. SCE uses System Center Operations Manager and Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) to provide its functionality, which is broken down into the following areas:

• Patch management to server and desktop OSs (provided by WSUS technology)
• Deployment of updates to services and desktop applications (provided by WSUS technology)
• Application deployment (customized packaging of applications into CAB files, then deployment via WSUS)
• Inventory of software and hardware (SCE-specific application deployment through WSUS, capturing software via Add or Remove Programs registry entries and hardware via WMI)
• Centralized error collection
• Complete monitoring of the IT infrastructure at both OS and service levels (via System Center Operations Manager)
• More than 50 reports, providing information about all aspects of the enterprise
• Automated daily health reports, sent via email