Managing Windows-based systems on large networks and overcoming configuration drift

Now more than ever, as computer systems have become essential for productivity in large enterprises, it is necessary to manage such systems in a way that ensures hardware and software is up to date and operational interruptions are at a minimum while security, performance and adherence to budget constraints are met, in accordance to ITIL best practices [19]. Windows based operating systems bundled with enterprise-level configuration management software, such as System Center Configuration Manager 2007 is one of the most common methods of managing the configuration of a large-scale network, but unfortunately it is not a complete solution. The goal of this thesis paper is to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of configuration management practices in a large-scale Windows-based environment, and provide recommendations and possible solutions to the deficiencies of current configuration management software. Firstly, the strengths and weaknesses of configuration management software were researched by analyzing how well the available products aligned with configuration and fault management practices. Common technical failures were noted and three proof-of concept applications were developed to resolve these failures more efficiently. Time and cost saving benefits were analyzed through time trials conducted by experienced IT professionals on a small but scalable network. The time trials compared manual and semi-manual methods of resolving regularly occurring technical failures, against the automated methods available within the software that was developed as a product of this thesis. Solutions include: remote file compression and remote checksum calculation using wrapper scripts, and a tool for troubleshooting other common Windows client errors.