You must plan for language requirements of your site server and its clients concurrently. The language you choose for your Configuration Manager 2007 site server determines which client localizations it can support. If your organization's policies or operating systems require that the Configuration Manager 2007 site server and all clients in that site support one language, you can install any non-U.S. English version of Configuration Manager 2007 that meets your needs. Unlike other localized versions of the Configuration Manager 2007 server software, the French version only supports its same-language client. All other translated versions of Configuration Manager 2007 support U.S. English clients. Configuration Manager 2007 site servers of different installed languages can be placed together in any combination in a hierarchy. If you have a requirement to support multiple client languages within a specific site, then you must install the U.S. English version of the site server and the ICP.
When planning for the support of multiple languages in your Configuration Manager 2007 site hierarchy, consider the following:
- Which languages are required for clients and
servers at which locations in your company.
- When you plan to deploy these languages, keep
in mind that some local-language versions of Configuration Manager
2007 are not released until after the initial U.S. English version
is released.
- Which Configuration Manager 2007 features you
need. Balance your requirements against specific language support
limitations.
- Whether you will use computer hardware
dedicated to Configuration Manager 2007 site systems or site roles.
If you dedicate computer hardware for Configuration Manager 2007
functions, then you have some flexibility to choose your
Configuration Manager 2007 language version. If you choose not to
dedicate computer hardware to Configuration Manager 2007 site
systems or site roles, then you are limited by the language of the
operating system of the existing computers.
- Whether the Configuration Manager 2007 site
server is required to run a specific localized operating
system.
- Whether you are installing an ICP to support
numerous client languages. If you are required to install an ICP at
a given site, then you must install the Configuration Manager 2007
U.S. English version at the site.
ImportantThe SMS Provider must be installed on a computer with the same operating system language as the site server's operating system language when a site contains site servers or clients with different language operating systems installed. - Whether you are able to maintain multiple
versions of each language version ofConfiguration Manager 2007 .
Each language version must have its own service pack and hotfix
version. For additional information about Configuration Manager
2007 versions, see the "Applying updates" section later in this
chapter.
- Whether the language skills of the operations
staff at each level of the hierarchy are aligned with the
requirements of Configuration Manager 2007 features, such as
software distribution, site management, and help desk. Where are
packages and advertisements created? In what language? Is the
operations staff at lower levels of the hierarchy able to read the
names of objects that flow down?
Multilingual Site Hierarchy Example
As an example of a multilingual Configuration Manager 2007 site hierarchy, consider a company whose headquarters is located in Vancouver, Canada, with branch offices in Tokyo, Seoul, Berlin, and Madrid. The branch offices are all child sites of the parent headquarters site.
The Configuration Manager 2007 site administrators configure the central, primary site system in Vancouver to use an English-language site server running an English-language Configuration Manager 2007 console. In addition, two Configuration Manager 2007 consoles are installed on remote workstations running Japanese and Korean operating systems. At the central site in Vancouver, the Configuration Manager 2007 administrators can view the information of each of the child sites in the native languages and character sets of each of the child sites. The Vancouver site also supports English-language and French-language clients. The ICP is installed at the Vancouver site because the French version of Configuration Manager 2007 does not support U.S. English clients. All client computers in the site have localized operating systems and users want localized Configuration Manager 2007 client software, so the ICP is installed to support various client languages.
At the Tokyo site, the Configuration Manager 2007 administrators install the Japanese version of Configuration Manager 2007 on a Japanese operating system so they can view data from the Japanese-language clients.
The Seoul site server computer hardware runs a U.S. English operating system. The end users are fluent in U.S. English. Although the client operating systems are Korean, the site administrator decides not to install the Korean version ofConfiguration Manager 2007. The end users use U.S. English clients. The site administrator has access to a Korean version of the Configuration Manager 2007 console installed on a Korean operating system that is occasionally used to view localized Korean data.
The Berlin site runs a German-language site server that runs on a German operating system. The site has U.S. English, German, and Traditional Chinese operating system clients. An ICP cannot be installed on the site server because it is not U.S. English. Only German client computers have a localized Configuration Manager 2007 client. The U.S. English and Traditional Chinese operating system clients use a U.S. English Configuration Manager 2007 client.
The Madrid site runs an English-language site server that supports a mix of Spanish-language, Italian-language, Turkish-language, and English-language clients. To obtain the required client language support, Configuration Manager 2007 administrators install ICPs on the Vancouver and Madrid sites only.
 Note |
|---|
| In the case of Korean and Traditional Chinese, to view the data correctly, the administrators in the example scenario should install a language-specific operating system, create a site, and then install a language-specific remote Configuration Manager 2007 console. The administrators can then view the data of these DBCS languages correctly by using a remote Configuration Manager 2007 console to attach to a site server where the data resides. The Japanese site was installed with a localized version of Configuration Manager 2007 and Japanese operating system, so no remote Configuration Manager 2007 console is necessary. |
The Configuration Manager 2007 site administrators of the example company choose this configuration to take advantage of the international features of Configuration Manager 2007. Because Configuration Manager 2007 supports DBCS languages, it supports Japanese (a double-byte character set language) child sites reporting to the English (a single-byte character set language) central site. Configuration Manager 2007 also supports any DBCS language sites reporting to other DBCS language sites. The European branch has Configuration Manager 2007 clients enabled with several central, western, and eastern European languages that are deployed by installing ICP2.
For the site administrators, the advantage of this configuration is to have broad administrative coverage of the information systems in an organization. This capability makes it possible for administrators to store all of their Configuration Manager 2007 information for the organization in one location and to view the data in the native language from each site, from any location, through remote Configuration Manager 2007 consoles. Because the site administrators can use any mix of the supported server languages, they have considerable flexibility in designing their Configuration Manager 2007 site hierarchy to suit the needs of their organization. The English-language site server supports all Configuration Manager 2007 client languages.