Data Stores

SMS stores configuration data that it uses for site function and the data that it collects about resources at a site. This data is stored in four locations:

The SMS site database

The SMS site database is a Microsoft SQL Server database that stores discovery data, configuration and status information, hardware inventory, and software inventory. You access data in the SMS site database through the SMS Provider. You can add data to the SMS site database by creating custom applications using the SMS Toolkit or by using custom MIF files.

The site control file

The site control file is an ASCII text file (Sitectrl.ct0) that contains the configuration of each site. There are two types of site control files:

Actual site control file

A working copy of the site control file stored in the SMS site database.

Delta site control file

A file that contains changes to the site control file, in .var file format, that are processed through Site Control Manager.

Site control files are stored at each primary site. The site control files for secondary sites are stored at their parent sites. Each child site passes a copy of its site control file to its parent site. Each parent site passes a copy of the site control file for itself and for each of its child sites up the hierarchy. Therefore, the central site’s database contains copies of the site control files of every SMS site in the hierarchy. You cannot edit or make changes directly to the site control file. When you make site configuration changes through the SMS Administrator console, SMS writes them to the site control file. You can also use the SMS Toolkit to create custom applications that access SMS site database data.

The Registry

The registry is a database that contains all Windows internal configuration information. SMS uses the registry to store configuration information. Some of the flowcharts in this book list relevant registry keys. You can access and make changes to registry keys. Make sure that you understand what you are doing before you make these changes, however. For more information about accessing and using the registry, see the Windows NT Server Resource Guide.

CIM Repository

The CIM Repository is part of Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) which stores SMS schema and SMS Provider information. SMS uses this design to make it possible for you to use a single-point for accessing all the SMS management information for a specific system. For more information about the CIM Repository, see Chapter 10, “Customizing Hardware Inventory.”