Configuration Manager 2007 R3 Power Management – Part1 “Overview”
In this post series I will go through System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R3 Power Management showing general overview and prerequisites for the new SCCM 2007 R3 Power Management feature and then deeply go through the step by step to enable and configure SCCM 2007 R3 Power Management feature,
In this 1st part I will give a general overview about the new feature and the prerequisites.
Management in Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R3 addresses the need that many organizations have to monitor and reduce the power consumption of their computers. The feature leverages the power management features built in to Windows to apply relevant and consistent settings to computers in the organization. Different power settings can be applied during and outside of working hours. For example, it might be acceptable to apply a more restrictive power plan during non-peak hours. In cases where computers must always remain switched on, you can prevent power management settings from being applied.
There are three major components to power management in Configuration Manager 2007 R3:
Monitoring and Planning
Power Management extends the hardware inventory of Configuration Manager 2007 to collect information about computer usage and power settings for computers in the site. A number of reports are provided to allow you to analyze this data and determine optimal power management settings for computers.
Enforcement
Power management allows you to create power plans which can be applied to collections of computers in your site. These power plans configure Windows power management settings on computers. You can use the built in Windows power plans, Balanced, High Performance and Power Saver or you can configure your own custom power plans. Different power plans can be configured for peak and non-peak working hours.
Compliance
After applying power plans to computers in your organization, you can run reports to validate that power settings were correctly applied and to calculate power savings across collections of computers.
Prerequisites for Power Management
Power management in Configuration Manager 2007 R3 has both external dependencies and dependencies within the product.
Configuration Manager 2007 Dependencies
The following table describes the dependencies within Configuration Manager 2007 for using power management.
Dependency |
More Information |
The site server must be running Configuration Manager 2007 R3. |
Power management requires Configuration Manager 2007 R3. |
The Configuration Manager 2007 hardware inventory client agent must be enabled for the site in which you are using power management. |
Power management in Configuration Manager 2007 R3 uses information collected by hardware inventory. To use power management, you must first enable the Hardware Inventory Client Agent for the site. |
The site must be enabled for power management. |
Before you can use power management in Configuration Manager 2007 R3, you must enable the Power Management Client Agent. For more information see, How to Enable or Disable the Power Management Client Agent later in this document. |
SQL Reporting Services integration must be installed and configured. |
The provided reports for power management require SQL Reporting Services to run. SQL reporting services integration was introduced in Configuration Manager 2007 R2 and is also included with Configuration Manager 2007 R3. For information about installing and configuring SQL Reporting Services, see SQL Reporting Services later in this document. |
Hotfix KB 977384 must be applied to all site serves and remote consoles. |
To use power management in Configuration Manager 2007 R3, you must deploy the hotfix KB 977384 supplied with Configuration Manager 2007 R3 to all site servers and remote consoles. You additionally need to deploy the client msp file to all client computers in your organization, before they will begin to collect data. |
Dependencies External to Configuration Manager 2007
The following table describes the dependencies within Configuration Manager 2007 for using power management.
Dependency |
More Information |
Client computers must be able to support the required power states. |
To use all features of power management, client computers must be able to support the sleep, hibernate, wake from sleep, and wake from hibernate actions. You can use the Power Capabilities report to determine if computers can support these actions. |
In the next post I will go through How to Update the Configuration Manager 2007 Client for Power Management, and then continue step by step Configuration Manager 2007 R3 Power Management configuration and how to import Power Management Configuration Pack and how to apply Power Management Plan.