Greetings,
I’ve read a few things about DSC and because its so new Im looking for some selling points.
If you say it can set the registry, then GPOs can do that.
If you say it can install or run things, then SCCM can do that.
Im wondering what those who have had more experience would say that would be a game-changer and convince someone that DSC is really the way to go.
What are some practical scenarios where DSC shines above all other possible tools?
Thanks
David Z
This is my interpretation and may not be accurate or the best guide. Also as it is still quite new the mind=blown effect means that we haven’t caught on to all the ways it could be used.
Say for example you have a hyper-v cluster. You want to deploy a new server into that cluster, this means you install windows then do all your configuration on it. With DSC you can have a DSC “script” that will keep everything in line with what your hyper-v cluster machines will look like such as having the hyper-v feature installed.
Microsoft currently like the IIS example because you also make sure that you have the files for the website. If you want to hear some of Don Jones thoughts on where DSC is and where it is going then listen to Powerscripting podcast 236.
Matt’s got it right. DSC consists of layers; the DSC functionality itself, plus “resources” that actually check and do stuff. We don’t have a lot of resources yet.
Over time, expect to see (I personally believe) SCCM incorporate DSC in lieu of its own configuration auditing functionality. Over time, (I and others think) expect DSC to start to replace GPO. Right now we’re in a period where the core functionality exists, but it doesn’t do much. As product teams start writing on top of DSC - just as they eventually did with PowerShell itself - it becomes more useful.
You didn’t mention the functional overlap between DSC and SCVMM, but there’s a lot there also. Again, over time, SCVMM will continue to do what it does - but it’ll do it by using DSC, instead of its current implementation.