The console tree items in the SMS Administrator console are as follows:
| Systems Management Server | Systems Management Server, the first item in the console
tree, groups all SMS-related items. The first item below SMS is
always Site Database (site code - site name).
Sites are composed of client computers and one or more servers that are managed as a group. A client is a discovered system resource that has SMS client software installed and belongs to an SMS site. Each SMS site hierarchy contains at least one SMS site server, a computer on which SMS server software has been installed. |
| Site Hierarchy | Use Site Hierarchy to manage and configure SMS, your SMS databases, and all of the features and tools that enable you to manage your SMS site hierarchy and clients. All configuration items are located under Site Hierarchy. For example, you configure and enable software metering servers through the Site Hierarchy console item, but you start Software Metering itself through the Tools console item. |
| Collections | Use Collections to manage and use the collections of site resources defined for your site. A collection is a set of site resources that is defined by membership rules. An example of a collection is "All Windows NT Workstation Systems." Collections are important tools that you use for software and hardware inventory and for software distribution. You can target and group the computers in your SMS site based on dynamic (always up-to-date) collections. SMS provides several pre-defined collections and also includes the Query Builder tool, which assists you in creating custom collections. You can also use Collections to gain and restrict access to the Remote Tools feature. |
| Packages | Use Packages to manage and use the packages defined for your site. Packages contain the files and instructions that SMS uses to distribute software to client computers. A package enables you to define software and then distribute that software to SMS client computers. By using packages, you can distribute, install, and configure software in a variety of ways to any computer in your SMS site. You can create packages for commercial software, in-house software, and data files. |
| Advertisements | Use Advertisements to manage and use the advertisements defined for your site. Advertisements contain the instructions for programs to be distributed throughout your organization. Advertisements alert client computers that software is available to be run, and they determine which client computers receive software and upgrades and when. You can also use Advertisements to run programs on computers in a collection. For example, you can create an advertisement that will synchronize the system time on all of the client computers in a collection. |
| Product Compliance | Product Compliance enables you to check the Year 2000 compliance level of products installed on both client computers and servers in your site. SMS provides an ASCII-delimited text file (the compliance database), which contains a list of Microsoft products with a compliance level assigned to each product. To change the database information, simply load new Y2K or Euro compliance databases. SMS also provides queries that enable you to compare the software inventory gathered from client computers in your site against the compliance database. You can customize the database by adding products and assigning compliance levels. |
| Queries | Use Queries to manage and use the queries defined for your site. You can use queries to search for information about your site and to find and select target computers for inclusion in a collection. When you run a query, SMS uses the SMS Provider to search the SMS site database, gather the specified data, and display the query results in the details pane of the SMS Administrator console. |
| System Status | System Status enables you to access the SMS status system. SMS
generates status
messages about component behavior and data flow. As SMS
components function, they periodically generate messages about
their activity. You can configure the rules that determine where
Status Manager displays and stores these messages. The messages can
be written to the SMS site database, replicated to the parent site,
and/or written to the Windows NT Event Log on the site server.
Status summaries within SMS give you more information about how each component is running. SMS monitors status messages on a component-by-component basis, which gives you summary information about the number of errors and warnings that have occurred, as well as the previous time a component was contacted. This kind of smart reporting enables you to find and resolve problems long before they become critical. |
| Security Rights | Use Security Rights to assign SMS security rights. SMS security uses the Windows NT security model — you can grant the permissions administrators need to perform specific SMS tasks to Windows NT users and user groups. You can also set security by specifying the rights that a Windows NT user or user group has to various SMS security objects, such as Collections, Packages, and Advertisements. |
| Tools | The Tools console item contains four SMS tools: Reports,
Software Metering, Network Monitor, and the Service Manager. If you
use the custom installation method in the SMS Installation Wizard,
only the tools that you select to be installed at your site appear
in your console tree. You can add these tools after your site is
installed by using SMS Setup to modify your site.
Reports starts the Crystal Info tool, which you can use to collate information about how SMS is operating in your organization and to prepare administrative information in an easy-to-read report format. This tool is designed to augment business decision-making by enabling you to design, schedule, and view reports based on the data stored in the SMS site database. Software Metering starts the Software Metering tool that you use to administer Software Metering at the client computers in your site. Network Monitor starts the Network Monitor tool that you use to monitor your network. Service Manager starts the SMS Service Manager tool that you use to start and stop SMS server components in your site server. |
Related Topics
The Console Tree and Details Pane