System Requirements and Supported Platforms

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When installing Essentials 2007 on the designated management server, the Setup program runs a prerequisite checker that lists which prerequisite tests have passed and which have not. The prerequisite checker provides links to help you comply with the requirements for running System Center Essentials.

Hardware Requirements

The following table describes the minimum disk space requirements for running Essentials 2007. For more information, see About System Center Essentials Deployment.

Component Minimum requirement Recommended

Essentials 2007 management server (all management components on a single server)
  • 1.8 GHz processor

  • 1 GB of RAM

  • 12 GB of available hard disk space (1 GB on the system drive)
  • 2.8 GHz or faster processor

  • 2 GB of RAM

  • 20 GB of available hard disk space (1 GB on system drive)

Essentials 2007 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 2007.

Note

Essentials 2007 SP1 is supported on Windows Server 2008. Both Windows Server 2008 and Essentials 2007 SP1 hot fixes are required. Official supported scenarios with the required hot fixes can be found on the Microsoft Help and Support Web site (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=119299).

Note

Essentials 2007 SP1 now supports Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7. Computers running Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard, Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise, or Windows 7 Professional or Windows 7 Ultimate are now supported platforms for:

  • Installing the Essentials 2007 remote console

  • Managed computers

For Essentials to manage computers that run Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7, you must upgrade the Essentials installation of Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) on the management server and install the Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 management packs as appropriate. For more information and detailed instructions, see the System Center Essentials team blog (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=186996).

Component Operating System

Management server

Windows Server 2008 Standard or Windows Server Enterprise, or Windows Server 2008 Standard without Hyper-V or Windows Server 2008 Enterprise without Hyper-V (the 64-bit edition of the operating system is required for virtualization management).

Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition or Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, the 32-bit version of Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition or the 32-bit version of Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, or Windows Server 2003 Standard x64 Edition with Service Pack 1 or Windows Server 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition with Service Pack 1, or Windows Server 2003 Standard x64 Edition with Service Pack 2 or Windows Server 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition with Service Pack 2, or Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard x64 Edition or Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition.

Windows Essentials Business Server 2008 Standard or Windows Essentials Business Server 2008 Enterprise.

Windows Small Business Server 2003 Standard Edition with Service Pack 1 or Windows Small Business Server 2003 Premium Edition with Service Pack 1, or Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 Standard Edition or Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 Premium Edition.

Microsoft Virtual Server 2005.

Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 and Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) 2.0 must be enabled.

Active Directory must be deployed in the environment.

Essentials 2007 console only

Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard or Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise

Windows 7 Professional or Windows 7 Ultimate

Windows Server 2008 Standard 32-Bit or Windows Server 2008 Enterprise 32-Bit, or the 64-bit edition of Windows Server 2008 Standard or the 64-bit edition of Windows Server 2008 Enterprise.

Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition or Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, the 32-bit version of Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition or the 32-bit version of Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, or Windows Server 2003 Standard x64 Edition with Service Pack 1 or Windows Server 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition with Service Pack 1, or Windows Server 2003 Standard x64 Edition with Service Pack 2 or Windows Server 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition with Service Pack 2, or Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard x64 Edition or Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition.

Windows Essentials Business Server 2008 Standard or Windows Essentials Business Server 2008 Enterprise.

Windows Small Business Server 2003 Standard Edition with Service Pack 1 or Windows Small Business Server 2003 Premium Edition with Service Pack 1, or Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 Standard Edition or Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 Premium Edition.

Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2.

Windows Vista Business, Windows Vista Enterprise, or Windows Vista Ultimate.

Microsoft Virtual PC 2004.

Microsoft Virtual Server 2005.

Managed computer

Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard or Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise

Windows 7 Professional or Windows 7 Ultimate

Windows 2000 Professional Service Pack 4.

Windows 2000 Server Service Pack 4.

Windows 2000 Advanced Server Service Pack 4.

Windows Server 2008 Standard, Windows Server 2008 Enterprise, Windows Server 2008 Datacenter, Windows Server 2008 Standard without Hyper-V, Windows Server 2008 Enterprise without Hyper-V, Windows Server 2008 Datacenter without Hyper-V, or Windows Server 2008 Web Server. Server Core feature is supported.

Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition or Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, the 32-bit version of Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition or the 32-bit version of Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, or Windows Server 2003 Standard x64 Edition with Service Pack 1 or Windows Server 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition with Service Pack 1, or Windows Server 2003 Standard x64 Edition with Service Pack 2 or Windows Server 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition with Service Pack 2, or Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard x64 Edition or Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition.

Windows Essentials Business Server 2008 Standard or Windows Essentials Business Server 2008 Enterprise.

Windows Small Business Server 2003 Standard Edition with Service Pack 1 or Windows Small Business Server 2003 Premium Edition with Service Pack 1.

Windows Vista Business, Windows Vista Enterprise, or Windows Vista Ultimate.

Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2.

Windows XP Tablet PC Edition Service Pack 2, or Windows XP Tablet PC Edition Service Pack 3.

Windows Server 2003 Web Edition with Service Pack 1, or Windows Server 2003 Web Edition with Service Pack 2.

Microsoft Virtual PC 2004.

Microsoft Virtual Server 2005.

SQL Server Requirements for Deployment

The following list describes the Microsoft SQL Server versions and editions that are supported in System Center Essentials 2007.

  • SQL Server 2005 Express Edition Service Pack 1 (32-bit only)

    Note

    Essentials 2007 SP1 does not support SQL Server 2005 Express Edition with Advanced Services 32-bit on any 64-bit operating systems. Essentials 2007 SP1 supports SQL Server 2005 Express Edition with Advanced Services 32-bit only on 32-bit operating systems.

  • SQL Server 2005 Workgroup Edition Service Pack 1, SQL Server 2005 Workgroup Edition Service Pack 2, or SQL Server 2005 Workgroup Edition Service Pack 3 (32-bit only)

  • SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition Service Pack 1, SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition Service Pack 2, or SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition Service Pack 3 (32-bit and 64-bit)

  • SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition Service Pack 1, SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition Service Pack 2, or SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition Service Pack 3 (32-bit and 64-bit)

Requirements for the Deployment Environment

The environment in which you plan to deploy Essentials 2007 must 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.

  • All Essentials 2007 server components and all managed computers must be members of the same domain.

Unsupported Environments for System Center Essentials

  • No cluster support for any Essentials 2007 components.

  • No support for any Essentials 2007 components across Active Directory forests without certificate-based authentication.

  • No SQL Server 2005 Database Mirroring support.

  • Essentials 2007 does not support managing computers with IA-64-based processors.

See Also

Concepts

About System Center Essentials Deployment
Supported Deployment Topologies