Using Systems Management Server to Deploy Windows 2000
Using Systems Management Server to Deploy Windows 2000 |
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Systems Management Server can be particularly helpful for deploying Windows 2000 in the following ways:
SMS has senders that can send files over a wide variety of network protocols and over virtually any kind of network link. Senders provide several benefits over traditional file transfer methods. They can:
Using senders can be beneficial when your sites are remote, particularly if they have no technical support staff. In such cases, you can reliably distribute Windows 2000 software to all sites without interfering with other business functions.
SMS automatically sends a status message as each step is completed, and you can easily monitor these messages using the SMS status subsystem.
Because deploying Windows 2000 upgrades is a large, complex, high-profile process, you need to deploy it in phases. This spreads out both the network activity and required support. Also, all your computers might not be ready to receive the package at the same time; for example, some computers might not have enough memory or disk space. SMS collects inventory details about your computers and allows you to create queries that select appropriate computers. You can increase the size of the selections as your confidence in the process increases.
Collections of inventory details can automatically include any additional computers that now meet the selection criteria. For example, consider a collection that is defined to include computers with 64 Megabytes (MB) of memory or more. If you added 32 MB to an SMS client computer that had 32 MB, it would then qualify to receive the Windows 2000 upgrade and be included in the collection automatically.
Operating system upgrades affect all aspects of a computer and, therefore, require that end users have broad access rights. You might be hesitant to give such broad permissions to users who do not have an in-depth knowledge of computers or of important company policies and procedures. SMS does have special privileges and can run the upgrade in that context.
Upgrades can be either automatically initiated or initiated by users. You can set up the process so that even when users are involved, they do not have to choose between complex options. You can give users the option to control the timing so that the upgrade can occur when their computers are not in use.
If the upgrade to Windows 2000 causes problems on a particular computer, SMS has features that help you solve them. The status and inventory information that SMS provides can supply many details about the computer from a central, convenient source — the SMS Administrator console. You can also use SMS remote tools to remotely control the computer, transfer files, or manipulate the computer in other ways (as long as the SMS client is functional). If the user has an incompatible application or an application that might benefit from being reinstalled, you can use SMS software distribution to automatically update or remove it.
SMS status messages are generated not only for the distribution of the package but also for the advertisements and the installation on user computers. You can use these status messages to report on the rate and success of deployment.
The steps required to take advantage of these SMS features are described in the procedures that follow. The details for enabling the relevant SMS subsystems and using them effectively are included the SMS documentation.