System Center Advisor - Frequently Asked Questions
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Q. What is System Center Advisor?
A. System Center Advisor (formerly named Microsoft Codename Atlanta) is a cloud service that enables IT pros to assess their server configuration and proactively avoid problems, while helping support staff to resolve issues faster by accessing current and historical configuration data, all with the security features that meet their needs. Additionally, System Center Advisor reduces downtime by providing suggestions for improvement, and notifying customers of key updates specific to their configuration.
Q. Who is this product/solution for?
A. System Center Advisor is designed for IT Pros responsible for the management of Windows based server products. The Release Candidate available now helps IT Pros manage the configuration of SQL Servers as well as some Windows Server features. We aim to extend and deepen Advisor’s functionality with new configuration intelligence and product support over time.
Q. How much will System Center Advisor cost and how will it be licensed?
A. The Release Candidate (RC) version of System Center Advisor is open to anyone. At commercial availability, System Center Advisor will only be available as a benefit of Software Assurance for entitled server products. This service brings new support and maintenance value to Software Assurance coverage at no additional cost.
Q. How can customers try the Release Candidate?
A. The Release Candidate is free to evaluate for all customer based in the United States. Customers can sign up at https://www.systemcenteradvisor.com. When Advisor is commercially available later this year, there will be an upgrade experience offered to eligible customers.
Q. Which server products will the release candidate of Advisor support?
A. The Release Candidate available now helps IT Pros manage the configuration of SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2 as well as some Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 features. Advisor aims to extend and deepen its reach over time with new configuration analysis intelligence and server product support over time.
Q. Will the list of supported products and versions be expanded for the production version?
A. System Center Advisor is designed as an extensible service that aims to deepen and extend its configuration analysis intelligence over time. New and extended support will be announced in future releases.
Q. Can I use Advisor for real time monitoring?
A. System Center Advisor is designed for configuration assessment on a periodic, rather than a continuous, basis. It is not intended to deliver real time monitoring. By default, Advisor collects different sets of data on 4-8 hour intervals. It analyzes that data once per day; it uploads data to the cloud once per day. Customers interested in real time monitoring solutions should investigate Microsoft System Center Operations Manager.
Q. How will Advisor Release Candidate be supported?
A. Customers will be able to contact Microsoft Support for any issues relating to their System Center Advisor deployment.
Q. Which languages does Advisor support?
A. For the release candidate, System Center Advisor is available for datacenters based in the United States, and the user interface is localized in US-English only.