The first step in designing any SMS site hierarchy is to identify your project objectives, both technical and business. For example, reducing the cost of software upgrades and simplifying hardware asset tracking are common business objectives. A technical objective might be to restructure network administration to more easily support clients across WANs.
To establish technical objectives, you must first gather specific information about your organization. Having accurate information about your physical network infrastructure and the business issues that influence your network operations is critical to many of the decisions you will make as you plan your SMS deployment. First, you should create a diagram of your network infrastructure that indicates the following:
For more information about documenting your current computing environment, see Chapter 3, “Planning for SMS in Your Organization,” in the SMS 2.0 Administrator’s Guide.
To establish business objectives, create a budget plan to support your SMS deployment plan. This plan should include funds for investigation of SMS site structure issues, hardware and software upgrades, the purchase or upgrade of lab equipment (for the pilot project), and training.
As you identify your business and technical objectives, you should quantify project milestones that will be met during each stage of the SMS planning process. For example, identify the objectives that must be met before the pilot project is considered complete.
The following sections describe in greater detail the technical and business objectives for your SMS site hierarchy design.