Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, R2 SP3, CH, MVL, CD, Update

Systems Management Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, R2 SP3, CH, MVL, CD, Update Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 provides a comprehensive solution for change and configuration management for the Microsoft platform, enabling organizations to provide relevant software and updates to users quickly and cost-effectively. SMS 2003 provides the following key capabilities:

Application deployment

- Detailed application deployment planning. Detailed reports available in SMS 2003 ease the application deployment process. For a planned deployment, it is easy to obtain the target group's current hardware base, existing applications, and version information, as well as the current service pack and hotfix levels of the system.

- Rich distribution targeting. Software distribution and other management tasks can be specifically targeted to machines and users using a wide variety of properties including network and hardware configuration, Active Directory® organizational unit, and group membership and software installation status.

- Delta distribution between site servers and distribution points. When changes are made to previously deployed software package sources, only the source changes are propagated between SMS 2003 site servers and distribution points, rather than the entire application image.

- Elevated rights Windows Installer Service. Because SMS 2003 supports the Windows Installer service (.msi), it is able to switch user account contexts during a package installation allowing for self-healing application installation on "locked-down" systems.

- Add/Remove Programs support. Applications can be easily published to the Add/Remove Programs interface to provide users with a consistent way of installing applications.

Asset management

- Application usage monitoring. Summary and detail reports can be generated specifying which applications were used by users, how long they were used, and on which managed systems they were used. Usage can be tracked by user or computer, and reports can be created comparing concurrent usage data to current license ownership (compliance reports).

- Granular software inventory file level searching. Now you can configure SMS 2003 to get you all the asset discovery you need, and only what you need.

- Detailed hardware inventory. Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) enhancements allow improved client-side performance during inventory scans and provide a richer set of inventory data, including BIOS and chassis enclosure data.

- Web-enabled reporting. More than 120 pre-built reports are included, covering hardware and software inventory as well as computer status and software deployment progress.

Security patch management

- Vulnerability identification. Standard Microsoft security tools like the Microsoft Baseline Security Inventory Analyzer and the Microsoft Office Inventory Tool for Updates enable you to inventory your systems for applicable patches and vulnerabilities.

- Patch deployment wizard. A simple console wizard is provided to assist administrators in deploying required patches to managed devices.

- Vulnerability assessment and mitigation reporting. After missing security patches have been identified, the results of these individual scans are then posted to the central database for reporting and targeting purposes. As missing patches are deployed, this data may be optionally updated in real time.

Mobility

Bandwidth-aware clients. The new Advanced Client uses the Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) technology to automatically detect the capacity of the client network connection and adjust transfer rates efficiently.

- Checkpoint/restart. Upon reconnection, any partial downloads to client computers will continue where they left off; there is no need to restart transmissions because of a disconnected session. Checkpoint/restart works at the byte level, requiring only the download of those bytes in a package that haven't already been transferred.

- Download and execute. After a new software package has been successfully downloaded to a client, it remains in the cache of the client system until the scheduled install time, when it is then executed.

- Location awareness. As mobile users move through geographic locations, flexible site boundaries ensure that they receive software packages and updates from the nearest appropriate installation source, and are not required to install software across the enterprise wide area network (WAN).

Windows Management Services integration

- Active Directory discovery. SMS 2003 can automatically discover the Active Directory properties of both users and systems, including organizational unit container and group level membership. Software packages can then be targeted based on these Active Directory attributes.

- Active Directory-based site boundaries. Site boundaries can now be based on Active Directory site names, rather than on Internet Protocol (IP) subnets.

- Advanced Security Mode. Built-in computer and local system accounts can be used for all server functions (such as database access), dramatically simplifying the management of accounts and passwords within SMS 2003 and making the enterprise more secure by not creating extra high-rights accounts.

- Improved status tools. The status data provides real-time information about the current state of SMS 2003 processes, both on servers and clients.

- Windows XP Remote Assistance support. The high-performance Windows XP Remote Assistance feature is now an option for troubleshooting clients remotely from the SMS Administrator Console when a user is present at the remote machine.

Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2) is a rollup of a number of fixes for SMS 2003, but also introduces some changes to the supported configurations and broadens the configurations allowed. SMS 2003 SP2 also includes incremental improvements to usability, security, and performance.

What’s New

- SMS Administrator Console Changes
- Locate management points and distribution points by Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) rather than by NetBIOS
- Instead of using the previously required 15-character NetBIOS computer name, you can now enter an FQDN value for site server name
- Support for using Active Directory Security Group Discovery methods has been added under Discovery Methods
- Software Updates node now allows the creation of folders for easier management and grouping of software updates
- SMS Advanced Client Upgrade package definition file now includes three programs: one each for IA64, x64, and x86
- Decommissioned Data DR Processing in SMS 2003 SP2
- The added ability to send notification of client record deletion to the parent site and then propagate that notification up the hierarchy
- Multi-Threaded Software Inventory Processing
- The software inventory processor component of the SMS Executive service is now multi-threaded
- Updates for the Inventory Tool for Microsoft Updates