[This is prerelease documentation and is subject to change in future releases. Blank topics are included as placeholders.]

When installing System Center Essentials 2010 on the designated Essentials management server, the setup program runs a prerequisite checker that lists which requirements have passed and which have not. The prerequisite checker provides links to help you comply with the requirements for running Essentials 2010.

Hardware Requirements

The following table describes the minimum and recommended requirements for running Essentials 2010. For more information, read the System Center Essentials 2010 Deployment Guide.

Component Minimum requirement Recommended

Essentials management server (all management components on a single server)
  • 2.0 GHz processor

  • 2 GB of RAM

  • 12 GB of available hard disk space (1 GB on the system drive); 20 GB of available hard disk space for storing updates; 150 GB of available hard disk space if planning virtualization management
  • 2.8 GHz or faster processor(s)

  • 4 GB of RAM

  • 20 GB of available hard disk space (1 GB on the system drive); 150 GB of available hard disk space if planning virtualization management

Essentials console only
  • 1.0 GHz processor

  • 512 MB of RAM

  • 512 MB of available hard disk space
  • 2.8 GHz or faster processor

  • 1 GB of RAM

  • 512 MB of available hard disk space

Managed computers
  • Refer to the minimum hardware requirements for the operating system
  • Refer to the minimum hardware requirements for the operating system

Operating System and Other Software Requirements

The following table describes the operating system requirements for running Essentials 2010.

Component Operating System Other Software

Essentials Server
  • Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard or Enterprise Edition, x64

  • Windows Server 2008 Standard or Enterprise Edition with Hyper-V, x86 or x64 (x64 required for virtualization management)

  • Windows Server 2008 Standard or Enterprise Edition without Hyper-V, x86 or x64 (x64 required for virtualization management)

  • Windows Server 2003 Standard or Enterprise Edition, x86 or x64, with Service Pack 2 (SP2) or later

  • Windows Small Business Server 2008, x64 only

  • Windows Essentials Business Server 2008, x64 only

  • Internet Information Services and Background Intelligent Transfer Service 2.0 must be enabled

  • Active Directory must be deployed in the environment

  • Essentials virtualization management can be installed only on Windows Server 2008 Standard or Enterprise Edition (x64 only), or Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard or Enterprise Edition
  • Microsoft .NET Framework, version 3.5

  • Microsoft XML Core Services 6.0

  • Windows Installer 3.1 (included as part of Windows Server 2008)

  • Microsoft Data Access Components 2.81

  • Microsoft Management Console 3.0

  • Internet Information Services, version 6.0 or 7.0

  • Microsoft ASP.NET 2.0

  • Microsoft SQL Server Database Services

  • Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services

  • Windows PowerShell 1.0 (included as part of Windows Server 2008)

  • Windows Remote Management—included as part of Windows Server 2008

Essentials console only
  • Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard or Enterprise Edition, x64

  • Windows Server 2008 Standard or Enterprise Edition with Hyper-V, x86 or x64

  • Windows Server 2008 Standard or Enterprise Edition without Hyper-V, x86 or x64

  • Windows Server 2003, Standard or Enterprise Edition, x86 or x64, with SP2 or later

  • Windows Essentials Business Server 2008, x64 only

  • Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate Edition, x86 or x64

  • Windows XP Professional, x86 or x64, with SP2 or later

  • Windows Vista, Business, Enterprise or Ultimate Edition
  • Microsoft .NET Framework, version 2.0 or 3.5

  • Microsoft XML Core Services 6.0

  • Windows Installer 3.1 (included as part of Windows Server 2008)

  • Microsoft Management Console 3.0

  • Windows PowerShell 1.0 (included as part of Windows Server 2008)

  • Windows Remote Management—included as part of Windows Server 2008

Managed computers
  • Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard or Enterprise Edition, x64

  • Windows Server 2008 Standard or Enterprise Edition with Hyper-V, x86 or x64

  • Windows Server 2008 Standard or Enterprise Edition without Hyper-V, x86 or x64

  • Windows Server 2003, Standard or Enterprise Edition, x86 or x64, with SP2 or later

  • Windows Essentials Business Server 2008, x64 only

  • Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate Edition, x86 or x64

  • Windows Vista, Business, Enterprise or Ultimate Edition

  • Microsoft Windows XP Professional, x86 or x64, with SP2 or later

  • Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, with SP2 or later

  • Windows Server 2003 Web Edition, with SP2 or later
  • Microsoft XML Core Services 6.0

  • Windows Installer 3.1 (included as part of Windows Server 2008)

Database Requirements for the Deployment Environment

The following list describes the Microsoft SQL Server versions and editions that are supported in Essentials 2010.

  • SQL Server 2008 Express Edition, x86 and x64, with Service Pack 1 (SP1) or later

  • SQL Server 2008 Workgroup Edition, x86 and x64, with SP1 or later

  • SQL Server 2008 Standard Edition, x86 and x64, with SP1 or later

  • SQL Server 2008 Enterprise Edition, x86 and x64, with SP1 or later

Virtualization Requirements

In order to create and manage virtual machines in Essentials 2010, a physical server capable of supporting virtual machines must be designated as the host server. System requirements for virtual machine hosts are shown below.

  • Supported Operating Systems

    • Windows Server 2008 R2, x64 only

    • Windows Server 2008 Standard or Enterprise Edition (x86 and x64)

    • Windows Server 2003 with SP1 or later (x86 and x64)

  • Prerequisites

    • Host servers running Windows Server 2003 SP1 must have the following components installed:

      • Windows Virtual Server 2005 R2 and above

      • Windows Remote Management 1.1 and above

    • Host servers running Windows Server 2008 must have the following components installed:

      • Windows Virtual Server 2005 R2 and above (x86)

      • On 64-bit platforms, the Hyper-V role must be enabled and Hardware Assisted Virtualization must be enabled in the BIOS

    • Host servers running Windows Virtual Server 2005 R2 must have the following updates installed:

    • Host servers running Windows Server 2008 with the Hyper-V role enabled must have the following updates installed:

Additional Requirements

The environment in which you plan to deploy Essentials 2010 must also comply with the following requirements:

  • Microsoft Active Directory Domain Services must be deployed in your environment. Active Directory Domain Services simplifies the setup, security, configuration, and ongoing total cost of ownership when using the product.

Unsupported Environments for System Center Essentials

  • No support for clustering the Essentials management server.

  • No support for any Essentials 2010 components across Active Directory forests without certificate-based authentication.

  • No SQL Server Database Mirroring support.

  • Essentials 2010 does not support managing computers with IA-64-based processors.

  • No support for the Essentials management server to use a remote Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) server for its update services.

  • No support for the Essentials management server to act as a downstream WSUS server.

    Note
    The Essentials management server acting as an upstream WSUS server is only supported with downstream remote branch servers.
  • No support for the Essentials management server to remotely monitor computers with no agents installed.

See Also