Introduction to Microsoft Systems Management Server

Microsoft® Systems Management Server (SMS) provides complete, centralized desktop system administration, managing administrative tasks in the following areas: SMS database access, SMS inventory extension, SMS API, SMS distributable programs, SMS console application integration, SMS administrator extension, and Network Monitor extension.

SMS organizes computers into a hierarchy of sites. A site is a group of servers and client computers typically located in a single geographic area. A site can consist of one or more domains, that is, a set of servers and clients that are managed as a group, existing on the same LAN.

SMS uses the terms central, primary, and secondary to identify the capabilities of sites in the hierarchy. A central site is a primary site at the top of the hierarchy, from which all sites and computers in the hierarchy can be administered.

A primary site has its own Microsoft® SQL Server database, which contains all of the hardware and software inventory information for the site and its subsites (sites attached below it in the hierarchy). The primary site can run the Systems Management Server Administrator tool for local administration of the site server and all subsites. A primary site must be running Microsoft® Windows NT® Server.

A secondary site does not have an SQL Server database or the SMS Administrator tool. This site is administered from any site above it in the hierarchy and has no subsites. A secondary site must be running Windows NT Server.

A primary site can have either secondary sites or other primary sites beneath it in the hierarchy. A secondary site must have a primary site above it and can have no sites below it.

The SMS Software Development Kit (SDK) provides developers with tools to extend the SMS system and create applications that take advantage of its functionality and resources.

Using the SMS SDK you can:

• Access the SMS site database. The SMS SDK offers samples of accessing the SMS site database by using other applications—such as Microsoft® Word, Microsoft® Excel, and Microsoft® Access—through the Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) SMS program, SMSVIEW.
• Extend the SMS inventory and add objects with custom architectures, add a new object to an existing architecture, or add groups to existing computers in the SMS database.
• Use the SMS API to gain access to objects in the SMS site database including computers, machine groups, site groups, software distribution packages and jobs, and SMS queries.
• Create SMS distributable applications. You can write setup programs or scripts that will distribute and run with SMS.
• Integrate third-party and ISV applications with SMS, making them available for launch from the SMS Administrator console.
• Extend the Administrator interface by creating custom objects and icons.
• Extend the set of Network Monitor protocols that display network traffic by creating protocol parser DLLs.