Can anyone tell me what SMS is for? 2

[NightWatcher]

Hi,
I'm a little curious of the purpose of SMS.

Can anyone tell it's main functions, and why network supervisors use it?

Thank you.

 

[Jpoandl]

Hey,

SMS 2.0 stands for Systems Management Server. The latest service pack is SP3.

SMS can be used for many things. In my environment we use SMS for three primary functions:

1) SMS will give you the ability to REMOTE CONTROL remote client machines. For example, an administrator sitting in NJ will have the ability to remote control machines in NY, london, or anywhere within the network. Other product, like LANDESK or PC ANYWHERE have a similar feature. In a remote control session, the administrator will "see" the remote systems desktop. It's kind of hard to explain....check this site out for more details:

http://www.microsoft.com/smsmgmt/default.asp

2) ASSET Management: SMS uses a SQL database to store information about the systems in your networked environment. SMS gives you the ability to know, for example, how many machines you have in your environment. The SMS inventory gives you both HARDWARE and SOFTWARE information. Not only can I tell that I have 2000 pentium 550 Windows NT 4.0 workstations, but I also know that only 1000 of them have the latest Internet Explorer package. This type of asset management is extremely important.

3) The ability to install software remotely. This is called Package Distribution. From a central location, you can install Office 2000 to your company. This saves time and money.

There are many more things SMS can do, but this is what I am most familiar with... Again check out this site:

http://www.microsoft.com/smsmgmt/default.asp

Hope this helps.

 

[NightWatcher]

Thank you very much Jpoandl..

So, if a user in my network installs a piece of software, let's say a game, I can just check the software inventory from SMS and the game entry is there?

Thank you.


NightWatcher

 

[Jpoandl]

Yes NightWatcher....It would be the SMS feature called Software Inventory that would detect this. However, there are certain limitations. SMS will only detect the executables on the machine. For example, SMS will search the client machines for all *.exe files. It does not check the registry of the machine to verify it is actuall installed. This is a limitation...however, it is PROBABLE that the client with the executable has the program installed.

In addition, there is a feature of SMS called Software Inventory.

"Software Metering - Tracks and controls application use based on application name, user, time of day, and quota. Software use statistics can help plan software licensing and even charge departments based on software use." (

http://www.microsoft.com/smsmgmt/exec/sms20datasheet.asp)

Software Metering can be used if you only have a limited number of licenses for a certain software package. Say you have 100 clients that use Office 2000; however, you only have 50 licenses. You know that only 40 clients will ever use Office at one time (due to shift changes.) You can use Software Inventory to sence how many users are concurrently running OFFICE 2000. You can set rules to prevent users from launching Office if more then 50 users are already using the product on the network. Or you can configure SMS to only record data...this way you can either buy more license or buy less...

Hope this helps..

 

[NightWatcher]

It certainly helps..
I will discuss the matter at my next network management meeting, to make the package available in the department..

Thank you so much.


NightWatcher

 

[jpmackl]

I would not call it Asset Management - It does inventory tracking. Be aware there are many add on packages to fill the gaps that Microsoft SMS 2.0 SP3 does not provide. The product does a great job at tracking Hardware data - Does a poor job in Software tracking and very poor in getting good reports from the data. It should take about 2-3 minutes to create a adhoc report from data - With SMS 2.0 you could spend hours getting good data/reports - I am seeing some improvements with Web Reports - but the have a long way to go. Some of the following companies provide add on solution's - Check out the website's before your purchase SMS 2.0 - You can see the Gap's for SMS 2.0 SP3.

They are:

Altiris -

http://www.altiris.com

Tally Systems Power Census -

http://www.tallysystems.com/products/tscensus/powercensus/powercensus.html

 

[mikescuba]

Actually you can set sms to check for any sort of file, you just need to specify the extension in the SMS admin console under - siteDB\siteHiearchy\site\site_settings\client_agent_properties\inventory collection tab. Also SMS supposedly checks for files using their internal properties so that if a savvy user decides to rename solitare.exe to toast.exe it should still find it.

It has it's purposes, but the reporting can be cumbersome.

 

[Schoenberg]

JPMackl's description of SMS 2.0 is not completely accurate. Because SMS 2.0 leverages off of WMI and the CIM standards, it is completely customizable.

Therefore, the way I would portray SMS 2.0 is that it can do whatever you want it to do (including completely accurate Software and Asset Management), but it has a very steep learning curve and requires a very large amount of in-depth technical customization/modification knowledge.

These modifications include extending the inventory (including software) using WMI standard addressing, creating custom WMI providers, creating custom client agents that report ANYTHING (literally anything) you wish to inventory or track. With customization of the WMI layer and creation of custom client agents, the sky is the limit.

Out of the box, SMS doesn't really compare to the ease of use of the other products. But if you are a full-time SMS Architect with a great deal of technical knowledge, then SMS 2.0 can do whatever you want.