Collections

Collections can be the answers or results to a question that involves specifying various resources, such as, “Which resources are running Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 with more than 2 GB of RAM, with more than 1 GB of free disk space, and with a certain BIOS version?” Collections allow you to organize Configuration Manager resources into logical groups, based on a query. A collection can target Configuration Manager tasks to the resources that you specify. You can make collections based on queries, allowing them to be updated dynamically based on a configurable schedule or by directly assigning resources.

Collections can consist of computers, users, user groups, or any discovered resources in the Configuration Manager database. Collections, as a fundamental feature, have not changed much since SMS 2003 or Configuration Manager 2007, but they are now the necessary building locks used to enable other features such as maintenance windows and collection variables. Collections are a good way to analyze and organize resources; they can also depend on the Capacity Management process in Service Design phase of ITIL and the Plan phase of MOF.