Specifications

Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 Reviewer’s Guide 10
 Operating system profiles
 Post-deployment customization scripts
 Sysprep answer files
 Hardware configurations
 Templates
In small organizations within a single location, administrators can create the library on the same
machine as the VMM application. For larger, distributed organizations, IT administrators can implement
library stores at each data center location so they do not need to send files across wide-area networks
(WANs) and incur associated performance penalties.
Remote Management
VMM provides a range of features that make remote management of enterprise virtual environments
easier, including distributed libraries, Web-based self-provisioning, and support for host and virtual
machine management in perimeter networks and non-trusted domains. These features work together to
strengthen the management capabilities of VMM in enterprise environments.
Physical-to-Virtual Wizard
The VMM Physical-to-Virtual (P2V) wizard transforms the otherwise labor-intensive P2V task into a
routine process that offers automation whenever possible. VMM also works with available SAN systems
to ensure P2V conversions are efficient and reliable.
Intelligent Placement Ratings
Not only does the VMM Intelligent Placement process eliminate the data-gathering and manual analysis
needed to make informed decisions, but it also gathers this information into an easy-to-understand
report showing which physical host servers are best suited for a particular workload through a star-
ranking system. Intelligent Placement works with both Windows Server hosts and VMware ESX Server
hosts connected with Virtual Infrastructure 3 and VirtualCenter Server. These reports give
administrators confidence in their virtual machine placement decisions.
SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services Reports
VMM uses SQL Server 2005 to store system information such as configurations and performance data.
When deployed together with Operations Manager, VMM allows administrators to take advantage of
SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services functions. SQL Server Reporting Services is a comprehensive,
server-based solution that enables the creation, management, and delivery of both traditional, paper-
oriented reports and interactive, Web-based reports. An integrated part of the Microsoft Business
Intelligence framework, Reporting Services combines the data management capabilities of SQL Server