Management of virtual environment with Microsoft System Center
System Center Family
The use of virtualization solutions is the first step. The simultaneous development of a comprehensive management solution is key as it makes the additional degree of freedom in virtualization controllable in the long-term.
That's why Microsoft has made its entire System Center Family fit for virtualization.
The System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) is an outstanding product for this. It facilitates central management of VMWare ESX and Hyper-V environments. It also allows users to manage and create their own virtual machines (VMs) via a self-service portal.
It is supported by the System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) which monitors the Hyper-V nodes and VMs and transfers this information to the SCVMM which in turn can make recommendations for a better distribution of resources or even implement them automatically.
The System Center configuration Manager (SCCM) is ideal for managing VMs just like physical machines.
Detailed information is available at http://www.microsoft.com/virtualization/en/us/products-management.aspx.
System Center Essentials 2010 (SCE)
The comprehensive System Center Family is often too complex for small and medium-sized enterprises with up to 50 servers. For smaller companies Microsoft also offers a truly fascinating product: System Center Essentials 2010 (SCE).
The new version also incorporates parts of the SCVMMs, i.e. you can manage your whole environment including virtual machines at Hyper-V nodes directly from one console. It also provides direct support for the Live Migration feature of Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 systems.
Detailed information is available at http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/en/us/essentials/sce-2010.aspx.