Assessment Process

Article
05/21/2009

Published: February 25, 2008 | Updated: April 17, 2009

All of the options for performing assessments are provided through the Solution Console. Each of the assessment options are described in the body of the console, as are other actions that can be performed using the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit (MAP).

Download the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit

Performing Assessments

The Assessment Wizard is used to perform the following actions:

Identify computers that are capable of running Windows Vista.
Identify computers to upgrade to Microsoft Office 2007.
Identify servers that are capable of running Windows Server 2008.
Migrate specific roles and services to Windows Server 2008.
Prepare recommendations for application virtualization using Microsoft Application Virtualization.
Identify SNMP-enabled machines.
Identify computers where antispyware, antivirus and firewall products are not found or are out of date as reported through Windows Security Center.
Identify machines running SQL Server, SQL Server Components installed, and their ability to migrate to SQL Server 2008.
Assess the results of the inventory process and an estimate of potential energy savings based upon managing power management capabilities of client and server machines through Group Policy policy settings in addition to power savings through server consolidation using virtualization.
Assess the computer environment for readiness to support Network Access Protection (NAP) and Forefront Client Security.

The Assessment Wizard provides multiple computer discovery methods, uses the WMI, SNMP and Remote Registry Service inventory collectors, and generates assessment reports for the selected scenarios. Ensure that remote computers have been configured to allow remote WMI connections as described in the Getting Started Guide (linked to the Start menu after installation is complete).

Note When performing assessments of more than 20,000 computers, special configurations of the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit (MAP) are required. Review the Getting Started Guide for more information about when you need to deploy a full version of Microsoft SQL Server 2005 or configure “scale-out mode” when running the Assessment Wizard.

Server Consolidation and Virtualization

Two wizards are used to prepare recommendations for server consolidation using Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V or Virtual Server 2005 R2. The Performance Metrics Wizard must be run to inventory and collect performance metrics for the target computers. It is recommended that you gather these metrics for at least a week or longer and include any heavy workload periods such as month-end close. Once a sufficient performance metric sample has been gathered, you will configure a model virtual host server and identify candidates to place on this type of host server using the Server Virtualization and Consolidation Wizard. Use the following steps to generate the consolidation recommendation:

Create a text file containing the computer names you want to consider for virtualization. You will import this same file into both wizards.
Run the Performance Metrics Wizard for a long period of time against the computers contained in the imported text file.
When the Performance Metrics Wizard has completed, review the generated report to verify that performance data has been gathered for each of the computers specified in the imported file. Run the wizard again if necessary.
Define a model virtual server host computer to which the physical servers will be migrated
Run the Server Virtualization and Consolidation Wizard, import the text file containing the computer names on which performance metrics have been gathered.
Specify the hardware configuration of the virtual server host computer in the Server Virtualization and Consolidation Wizard.
Review the generated server virtualization reports. If required run the Server Virtualization and Consolidation Wizard again and change the virtual server host computer configuration.

Assessment Options

The Assessment Wizard includes many options for computer discovery and a few options to select inventory methods. The Computer Discovery methods are used to find the computers on which inventory will be performed. After the computers are found, they are then inventoried using WMI, SNMP, or the Remote Registry Service. Use the following recommendations to determine the options to choose when running the wizard:

If you have Active Directory, select the option to find computers using Active Directory Domain Services. The wizard provides the option to find all computers in a forest or to specifically select the domains, OUs, and containers in which to find computers.
If you are scanning an environment with multiple forests, you need to run the wizard again for each additional forest, each time providing credentials for a domain in that forest. If you select the same inventory database when you run the wizard again, then the inventory data will be added to the inventory data previously stored in the inventory database.
To discover computers joined to a Microsoft Windows NT 4.0® domain, select the option to find computers using the Windows networking protocols.
If your computers are in workgroups, select the option to find computers using the Windows networking protocols. You need to run the wizard on each subnet in the organization to find all of the computers in workgroups. This is required because the Computer Browser service does not work across routed connections.
If you want to scan only specific computers and you have a list of computer names to scan, do not select the options to find computers using Active Directory or the Windows networking protocols. The wizard will provide the option to import a file containing the computer names or manually input the computer names.
If you want to scan only specific computers in a particular IP address range, select the option to scan an IP address range. Use this discovery method when also selecting the option to find non-Microsoft devices.
You can run the wizard again to find additional computers, such as computers that may have been turned off when you previously ran the wizard. The inventory and assessment results are cumulative. No computers are removed, but any new computers found will be added to the inventory results. To create a single report and workbook covering an entire organization, use the same database each time you run the wizard.
If you want to update the inventory results for a computer that has already been inventoried then you need to create a new database and select the appropriate options to collect the inventory data again.

Community and Feedback

To interact with other members of the Microsoft Assessment and Planning community, learn more about the tool, and get help with questions, visit the Microsoft Assessment and Planning forum on TechNet at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=110990.

To send feedback or suggestions for improving the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit (MAP), send e-mail to mapfdbk@microsoft.com.

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