Site Elements

  • Article

The fundamental elements of an SMS site are site system roles and site resources. Site resources include SMS clients. This section describes these and other elements of the SMS site.

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Site System Roles
Resources and Clients
SMS Provider
SMS Administrator Console

Site System Roles

Each SMS site contains a site server and one or more site systems. A site system is any server running a supported version of Windows® or a shared folder that provides some functionality to the SMS site. A site system role is a role that a site system performs in an SMS site. For example, the client access point (CAP) role provides a communication point between the SMS site and Legacy Clients. A computer hosting the CAP is a site system.

To decrease the load on your primary or secondary site server, you might want SMS to perform some server tasks on computers other than the site server.

The SMS administrator can assign site system roles to the primary site server or distribute them among several different site systems. Some site system roles are assigned during installation. Other site system roles are assigned through the SMS Administrator console. Servers are often referred to by their site system role name. For example, a server that performs the distribution point role is often called a distribution point. This section provides more detailed information about the site system roles that comprise SMS functionality. These include:

  • Site server

  • Component server

  • SMS site database server

  • Client access point

  • Distribution point

  • Management point

  • Server locator point

  • Reporting point

Site server

The site server hosts the SMS components that are necessary to monitor and manage an SMS site. When SMS is installed on a computer, that computer is automatically assigned the site server role. The site server can perform additional roles, such as CAP, management point, or distribution point. By default, the SMS Administrator console is installed on a primary site server during SMS setup. A distribution point and a CAP are also installed on the site server by default.

Note:

  • Although a site server can perform multiple site system roles simultaneously, such a configuration is not recommended for production sites with large numbers of resources. Using a site server to perform multiple roles in a large site can create a system resource usage bottleneck at the site server. For more information, see Chapter 9, "Capacity Planning for SMS Component Servers."

The site server runs the following services:

SMS Executive This is the main SMS service. It contains many SMS threads that carry out specific SMS functions.

SMS Site Component Manager This service ensures that the component server processes are running properly. It performs the initial installation of components and performs regular checks to ensure that they are running properly.

Component server

Component servers host one or more SMS components that support the site. For example, when a sender is installed on a server, or when the CAP role is assigned to a site system, that site system is automatically assigned the role of component server. A component server is a site system role that is filled by any SMS site system running an SMS component installed by SMS Site Component Manager. The only site system that is not a component server is the distribution point.

The component servers are:

  • Site server

  • SMS site database server

  • Client access point

  • Management point

  • Server locator point

  • Reporting point

  • Sender server

For more information, see the "Senders" section later in this chapter.

SMS site database server

The SMS site database server is a computer running SQL Server that stores information such as discovery data, hardware and software inventory data, and configuration and status information for the SMS site and its lower level sites. It runs the SMS SQL Monitor service. Every primary site in the SMS hierarchy contains an SMS site database.

Note:

  • To preserve network bandwidth, it is recommended that the SMS site database be installed on the primary site server itself, instead of on a different computer running SQL Server.

Client access point

The CAP role is the point of contact between Legacy Clients and the SMS site server. The CAP passes all Legacy Client data to the site server. Legacy Client computers contact the CAP for management information from the SMS site server. A CAP serves only one SMS site and is installed by default on the site server. The CAP also:

  • Provides specific configuration instructions and files for the Legacy Client during client installation and when changes are made after client installation.

  • Serves as the location where Legacy Client computers check for advertisements.

  • Receives data from Legacy Clients, which it forwards to the SMS site server. For example, when a client completes either hardware or software inventory and has created an inventory data file, it sends this data to the CAP. Any status messages originating from the client are replicated to the CAP.

Distribution point

The distribution point stores SMS package source files that SMS clients use when installing software programs distributed by SMS. When the SMS administrator advertises a program, the advertisement and program information are available to clients through a CAP for Legacy Clients or through a management point for Advanced Clients.

When SMS is set up, the site server is automatically assigned the distribution point role. The SMS administrator can enable the distribution point to use Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS), which enables incremental package file download to Advanced Clients. For more information about BITS, see Chapter 3, "Understanding SMS Features."

Management point

The management point is the primary point of contact between Advanced Clients and the SMS site server. An SMS site has only one default management point, although multiple management points can be configured with Windows Network Load Balancing Service. Similar to the relationship between CAPs and Legacy Clients, a management point:

  • Provides specific client configuration details (also known as Advanced Client policy) for the Advanced Client after client installation.

  • Serves as the location where Advanced Client computers check for advertisements.

  • Locates distribution points for Advanced Clients.

  • Receives inventory, software metering, and status information from Advanced Clients and forwards it to the SMS site server.

  • Note:

    • If the Active Directory schema is not extended for SMS, you must register the management point in WINS.

Server locator point

The server locator point locates CAPs for Legacy Clients and management points for Advanced Clients. The server locator point is mostly used in client installation. The server locator point:

  • Locates a management point for the Advanced Client if the Advanced Client is configured for automatic SMS site assignment.

  • Provides Advanced Clients with the location of the management point during Logon Script-initiated Client Installation and insufficient-rights installation.

  • Provides SMS site assignment for the Legacy Client and locates CAPs during Logon Script-initiated Client Installation.

  • Note:

    • If the Active Directory schema is not extended for SMS, you must register the server locator point in WINS.

Reporting point

A reporting point is a server that hosts the code for Report Viewer and any supplemental reports. A reporting point communicates only with its SMS site database server.

For more information about site system roles, see Chapter 8, "Designing Your SMS Sites and Hierarchy."

Resources and Clients

A resource is an object, such as a computer, a router, or a Windows user group, that can be discovered and potentially be managed by SMS. Resources are easily managed by creating rules that filter and organize them into collections. Collections provide you with a greater degree of administrative control when installing the SMS client and sending software programs to SMS clients.

The SMS client is the most common site resource. An SMS client is a computer that has SMS client software installed. The client has a TCP/IP address that is identified with an IP subnet. If Active Directory is enabled and the client has a computer account in Active Directory, then the client's TCP/IP address is associated with an Active Directory site name.

Discovery is the process of locating resources and collecting information about them. When SMS discovers a resource, it creates a discovery data record (DDR) and forwards the DDR to the SMS site server, where it is stored in the SMS site database. Resources in the database can belong to collections. If the resource is a supported computer platform, SMS can install the SMS client software on it. For information about supported platforms, see the "Getting Started" chapter in this book.

Resource discovery is not the same as client assignment to a site or client installation. These are separate processes. For more information about resource discovery and client assignment, see Chapter 4, "Understanding SMS Clients," and Chapter 17, "Discovering Resources and Deploying Clients."

Note:

  • With network discovery or Active Directory system discovery, SMS discovers a computer without installing the SMS client software. This happens if the computer is running an unsupported operating system. It also happens if client discovery is enabled but no client installation methods are enabled. Computers become SMS clients at SMS client installation time.

SMS Provider

The SMS Provider processes requests for data from the SMS site database. The SMS Provider role is installed on the same computer as the SMS site server or the SMS site database. It is recommended that you install both the SMS Provider and the SMS site database on the site server. The SMS Provider provides access to data for the SMS Administrator consoles installed in the site.

SMS Administrator Console

The SMS Administrator console is the graphical user interface used to administer SMS. This interface uses a Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in that is provided with the SMS product software. The SMS Administrator console is installed by default when you install a primary site server.

For More Information

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