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Micosoft Systems Management Server
Systems Management Server is part of the Windows Server system. It does large enterprise software distribution and asset management all in one. It's usually combined with Microsoft's Software Update Services (SUS) to offer a full end-to-end patch management product.
When new patches are available, SMS won't tell you: you would have to use another source (SUS) and then run the patch information against the central database.
If you were a large enterprise and didn't have a patch management system in place, then SMS would be one you should look at. If you have HP OpenView or IBM Tivoli running, then the obvious solution would be to use a suitable OpenView (typically Altiris) or Tivoli component to do your patch management.
As you can imagine, it would get quite messy if you were to mix modules and components from differ-ent vendors.
Some of the key features of SMS include:
Application deployment
- Software distribution to targeted assets
- Application usage monitoring
- Software inventory
- Hardware inventory
- Web reporting
- Patch deployment to managed assets
- Stages and test patches prior to installation
- Fine grained control over patches
- Bandwidth awareness (client network connections)
- Checkpoint/restart (downloads to clients continue where they left off)
- Location awareness (mobile users will always receive software updates from the nearest appropriate source)
- Active Directory discovery
Microsoft System Management Server Enterprise Edition 2003 sells for AU$1019, and client access licences are AU$72. System Management Server Enterprise Edition 2003 English sells for AU$2325 and includes a copy of SQL Server 2000 that runs the SMS database.
