Systems Management Server 2003 Service Pack 2 Overview

  • Article

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

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Software Requirements

  • All SMS 2003 Service Pack 2 site system roles are supported only on systems running Windows 2000 SP4 or later.

  • Internet Information Services (IIS) must be installed as part of the Windows Server installation for certain SMS site system roles.

  • Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 SP3 or later, SQL Server 2000 SP3a or later, or SQL Server 2005 (Yukon) can be used to host the SMS database for SMS 2003 SP2.

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Server Hardware Requirements

The following table shows the minimum hardware requirements for servers running Systems Management Server 2003 SP2

Hardware component

Requirement

Microprocessor

550 MHz or faster processor recommended

Memory

256 MB of RAM (maximum 4 GB of RAM)

Hard disk

2 GB of available hard disk space on an NTFS partition

Drive

CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive

Display

Windows 2000-compatible video graphics adapter

Peripheral

Keyboard and Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device, or hardware that supports console redirection

Network

Network adapter

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SMS Client System Requirements

SMS 2003 SP2 introduces the following changes in the way SMS Legacy and Advanced clients are supported

  • Legacy Client Operating Systems: Installation of the SMS 2003 SP2 Legacy Client is not supported on any client operating system capable of Advanced Client installation. Microsoft Windows 98 is the only supporting operating systems for Legacy Clients

  • Advanced Client Operating Systems: SMS 2003 SP2 will not support Advanced Client installation on client platforms less than Windows 2000 SP4 or Windows XP SP1.

    SMS 2003 SP2 provides support for 64-bit server platforms as SMS Advanced Clients

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Client Hardware Requirements

The following table shows the minimum hardware requirements for SMS 2003 SP2 clients

Hardware component

Requirement

Microprocessor

300 MHz or faster processor recommended, 133 MHz minimum

Memory

128 MB or higher recommended (64 MB supported but can limit performance and some features)

Hard disk

80 MB of available hard disk space

Display

Super VGA (800×600) or higher-resolution video adapter and monitor

Peripheral

Keyboard and Microsoft Mouse, or compatible pointing device

Network

Network adapter

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