Microsoft’s Jeff Wettlaufer, from the System Center Configuration Manager team, posted a primer on how System Center Configuration Manager works with Network Access Protection. NAP is Microsoft’s term for what the industry otherwise refers to as Network Access Control. Wettlaufer notes in his blog that NAP integrates with Microsoft products in the following ways:
System Center Configuration Manager 2007
Patch management and remediation
Forefront Client Services
Integrated AV product with it’s own SHA/SHV for NAP
SQL Server 2008
Centralized logging for NPS
Terminal Server 2008 Gateway
Integrated support for NAP policy creation and enforcement
Windows Vista
Improved IPsec and 802.1x features and management
But SCCM does more than simple patch management, he says:
“There are 2 types of configuration settings that NAP can look for. Out of the box NAP in Server 2008 can look for things like you see in your Control Panel – Security Center Applet – such as Firewall, Automatic Updates, Malware Protection and other security settings. These policy based settings are typically present in the form of Group Policy, or Anti Virus applications. Configuration Manager also uses a site role called a System Health Validator Point, as well as a Software Update Point, to work with Windows Server to scan for update compliance. Using the site role called System Health Validator, and the Software Update Management capability of Configuration Manager, NAP enforcement can be used to ensure updates are present on clients.”
The post also offers the following demonstration of SCCM and NAP in action:
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