WSUS Helps a WS08 Brutha Out
I've been waiting to see if this would happen. Like most of my petty wishlist idealisms, I figured it was too trivial to be considered. However, reading the latest post on the WSUS Team Blog by Cecilia made me feel like it was Christmas morning again. Just goes to show you how low my standards and expectations really are. I get excited over stuff like this. Then again, I got excited about getting a job that took me full circle back 10 years to where I started before going to college and amassing tons of student loan debt. Amazing. :)
So, what's the big deal?
WSUS 3.0 now sports two new product categories:
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Windows Server 2008 Server Manager Dynamic Installer (by far the coolest of the two in my humble opinion)
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Windows Server 2008 Server Manager – Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) Dynamic Installer (the lesser, but still cool item - sidenote: can this title be any frigging longer?)
Why is this a big deal? It's further proof that the Server Manager is a force to be reckoned with. It's really a huge improvement in Windows Server 2008. See, and you thought I was going to blog and blabber on about WSUS only. Fooled ya! While this is a change for WSUS, it's really all about giving Windows Server 2008 another shot of Vitamin B-12 in the arm. MMC is extensible enough and everyone knows it. But the Server Manager is like an MMC of MMCs when you really think about it. It's another nested hierarchical level above the MMC snap-in model and it allows you to do some incredible things.
Now, stop toking on your bong for just a second and recall that there's also a System Center Updates Publisher product out there. Hmmmm... Yes, I can see it now: Groups of uber-coder youth, tapping out new Server Manager add-ins from within Visual Studio and publishing them to WSUS and System Center for mass consumption. I know - I know, never drink the bong water. It's a cool thought though. The plumbing is in place to do great things. If Microsoft has done anything right, they've built the most incredible plumbing systems ever for integrating operating systems, infrastructure management, applications and data transformation. You can build your own toys or buy them. Nice to have that choice.