This post by David Papkin\u00a0Overview of System Center SCCM 2012 R2<\/p>\n
System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager is a user-centric product that focuses on the management of users and the devices they have rather than the management of devices and the people who use them. You can use System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager to manage assets, applications, compliance, and software updates, in addition to deploying operating systems, and monitoring and reporting on your environment.<\/p>\n
System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager groups various features into common management areas. Understanding the different features of Configuration Manager will help you understand its functionality and limitations. These features include the management of assets, applications, compliance, and software updates, in addition to the deployment of operating systems, and monitoring and reporting.<\/p>\n
Overview of System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager\u00a0System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager provides a unified infrastructure and a single console through which you can manage physical, virtual, and mobile clients. It also provides tools and improvements that make it easier for IT administrators to do their jobs.Several features of System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager provide the tools that help an organization provide highly effective IT
\nservices in several areas:
\n\u2022 Asset management. These tools enable you to gather and use information about a network\u2019s
\nusers and devices.
\n\u2022 Change management. These tools enable you to deploy and manage applications in a network,identify and remediate devices that do not have correct configurations, upgrade existing client systems or deploy new client systems.
\n\u2022 Administrative Features. These tools enable you to monitor an environment that you manage with Configuration Manager, in addition to the tasks that you perform within that environment.<\/p>\n
New Features in System Center 2012\u00a0Configuration Manager SP1<\/strong>
\nSystem Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1\u00a0introduced the following significant features that\u00a0provide support for:
\n\u2022 The Configuration Manager client on computers that are running Windows 8.
\n\u2022 The ability to deploy Windows 8 or to perform upgrades of Windows 7 computers to Windows 8 by\u00a0using Configuration Manager.
\n\u2022 Windows To Go.
\n\u2022 User data and profiles configuration that enables Configuration Manager to manage folder
\nredirection, offline files, and roaming profiles.
\n\u2022 Deployment of Windows Store apps (.appx files) to Windows 8 clients through sideloading or links to\u00a0the Windows Store. Sideloading is the process by which Windows Store apps are deployed to devices\u00a0without using the Windows Store.
\n\u2022 The metered Internet connection and the Always On, Always Connected Windows 8 features.
\n\u2022 Using Windows Server 2012 on site systems and client devices.
\n\u2022 Using SQL Server 2012 to host the Configuration Manager database.
\n\u2022 Mac OS X, Linux, and UNIX computers as Configuration Manager client devices.
\n\u2022 Mobile devices that are running the Windows Phone 8, Windows RT, iOS, and Android operating
\nsystems through a Windows Intune organizational account.
\n\u2022 The inclusion of Windows PowerShell\u00ae cmdlets that you can use to automate Configuration Manager\u00a0operations through Windows PowerShell command-line interface scripts.
\n\u2022 Windows Azure distribution points.
\n\u2022 The ability to expand a stand-alone primary site into a hierarchy with a new central administration\u00a0site.
\n\u2022 Migration of a Configuration Manager SP1 hierarchy to another Configuration Manager SP1
\nhierarchy.
\n\u2022 More than one software-update point in a site.
\n\u2022 The ability to trigger some client operations, such as downloading policy and triggering malware\u00a0scans, from the Configuration Manager console.
\n\u2022 Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) virtual environments that allow App-V applications to\u00a0share data from file systems and registries.
\n\u2022 Increased email alert subscriptions.
\nNew Features in System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager<\/strong>
\nIn addition to the features discussed above, System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager includes the\u00a0following new features that provide support for:
\n\u2022 Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1
\n\u2022 Boot images that you create by using Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7 SP1.
\n\u2022 The new site system role for certificate registration points. This role enables deployment to, and\u00a0management of, certificates to Configuration Manager client devices.
\n\u2022 Certificate profiles that support user and device certificates to managed devices that are running the\u00a0iOS, Windows 8.1, Windows RT 8.1, and Android operating systems.
\n\u2022 Merging of System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager hierarchies.
\n\u2022 Migration of System Center 2012 Configuration Manager test-environment data to a System Center\u00a02012 R2 Configuration Manager production environment.
\n\u2022 The enrollment of Mac OS X computers and deployment of client certificates through an enrollment\u00a0wizard.
\n\u2022 The ability to reassign Configuration Manager client devices, including managed mobile devices, to a\u00a0different site in the Configuration Manager hierarchy, either individually or through bulk\u00a0reassignment.
\n\u2022 The enrollment of Android devices by using the Company Portal app that is available through the\u00a0Google Play store. The Company Portal app includes the Configuration Manager management agent\u00a0that enables management capabilities such as password settings, a camera, and encryption settings.
\n\u2022 The enrollment of iOS devices by using the Company Portal app that is available through the Apple\u00a0App Store. The Company Portal app enables users to change or reset a password, download and\u00a0install organization apps, enroll, unenroll, or remove organizational content from their iOS device.
\n\u2022 Devices that run the Windows RT, iOS, and Android mobile operating systems support the Required\u00a0deployment purpose.
\n\u2022 The wipe and retire function, which enables administrators to remove only organizational content\u00a0from devices.
\n\u2022 Windows Intune, which can manage Windows 8.1 devices that are not domain-joined and do not\u00a0have the Configuration Manager client installed.
\n\u2022 Additional Compliance Settings related to mobile devices.
\n\u2022 Deploying web applications through a new deployment type.
\n\u2022 Windows 8.1 app bundles (.appxbundle) to optimize the deployment of Windows Store apps and\u00a0resource packages.
\n\u2022 Featured applications that display prominently in the Company Portal.
\n\u2022 Configuration of per-application VPN profiles that enable an application to open a VPN connection.
\n\u2022 Remote connection profiles, which enable users to connect remotely to their work computers from\u00a0the company portal.
\n\u2022 VPN profiles, which enable you to deploy VPN settings to devices that are running iOS, Windows RT,\u00a0and Windows RT 8.1.
\n\u2022 Wi-Fi profiles that enable you to deploy Wi-Fi connection settings to devices that are running iOS,\u00a0Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows RT, and Windows RT 8.1.
\n\u2022 Maintenance windows for software updates.
\n\u2022 Previews of software updates in an automatic deployment rule.
\n\u2022 Altering the deployment package for an existing deployment rule so that you can add new software\u00a0updates more efficiently.
\n\u2022 The ability to view resultant client settings so that you can see effective client settings that are applied\u00a0to specific devices.
\n\u2022 Non-default locations for site database files.
\n\u2022 The creation of pre-staged content files for task-sequence content.
\n\u2022 Virtual hard disk management.
\n\u2022 New task sequence steps that include Run PowerShell Script, Check Readiness, and Set Dynamic\u00a0Variables.
\n\u2022 Pull-distribution points that enable administrators to configure priorities for source distribution\u00a0points.
\n\u2022 Pushing of status information about completed actions by pull-distribution points to the site server.
\n\u2022 Summary reports of distribution point usage, which enables administrators to view details that\u00a0compare individual distribution point utilization.
\n\u2022 Configuration Manager reporting, which supports role-based administration with all of the reports\u2019\u00a0data filtered based on the permissions of the user who runs the report.
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