Microsoft Systems Management Server 2.0 Administrators Companion (IT-Administrators Companion)

Before a computer can be installed as an SMS client, it must first be assigned to an SMS site. A computer's site assignment is determined by its IP subnet address and mask or its IPX network number. (Refer to Chapter 3 for detailed information on subnet addresses and subnet masks.) If the computer is assigned to the site, installation continues. If not, the installation process stops. Site assignment depends on the site boundaries configured for your SMS site. This group of site boundaries is also known as the site assignment rules—the list of subnets and IPX network numbers for defining the site boundaries of an SMS site. These rules are maintained at the site server level and are written to the client access points (CAPs) and logon points.

Site boundaries determine only which clients are to be installed as SMS clients to the site. They are not used to specify which site systems can be assigned site roles in the site. In fact, site systems can be members of other accessible subnets.

CAUTION

Setting Site Boundaries

The site assignment rules are created by setting the site boundaries for the site. Site boundaries are a property of the site and are set through the SMS Administrator Console. To set site boundaries, follow these steps:

1. In the SMS Administrator Console, navigate to your site entry in the Site Hierarchy folder. Right-click on the site entry, and choose Properties from the context menu to display the Site Properties window.
2. Click on the Boundaries tab, shown in Figure 8-1.

Figure 8-1. The Boundaries tab of the Site Properties window.

3. To add a subnet to the Subnets list, click the New button (the yellow star) to display the New Subnet dialog box, shown in Figure 8-2.

Figure 8-2. The New Subnet dialog box.

4. Select a subnet type from the drop-down list—either IP Subnet or IPX Network Number.
5. In the Subnet ID text box, enter the IP subnet address or IPX network number, and then click OK to close the dialog box.
6. Click OK again to begin the site control process, which will update the site assignment rules.

Multiple-Site Membership

A client can be a member of multiple sites. This situation can occur either by plan or by accident. For example, two SMS sites can include the same subnet in their site boundaries. This practice is not recommended because it can confuse the client. Recall that client agent settings are sitewide settings. When enabled, these settings apply to all the SMS clients of that site. If a client belongs to more than one site, SMS will have to apply some rules to determine which agents are enabled on the clients and which agent settings will take precedence. For example, suppose that a computer named Clientx belongs to SMS sites A and B. The SMS administrator for site B enables the Remote Tools Client Agent (also sometimes referred to as the Remote Tools Agent) to be installed on all clients for that site. The SMS administrator for site A chooses not to enable the Remote Tools Client Agent. Because the Remote Tools Client Agent was enabled on one site, and because Clientx belongs to that site, the Remote Tools Client Agent will be installed on Clientx even though the agent was not enabled on the other SMS site.

Let's look at this from a different perspective. Returning to the preceding example, suppose that the Remote Tools Client Agent was enabled on both SMS sites. However, on SMS site A, the Remote Chat feature was enabled, and on site B the Remote Chat feature was disabled. The site settings conflict. The client agent will evaluate the conflicting security permissions and obtain the more restrictive of the two settings. In this example, the Remote Chat feature won't be available to the administrator of either site.

REAL WORLD  Joining Multiple Sites

At times, you might have a client join multiple SMS sites by design. For example, if a client has two network interface cards (NICs), each NIC could connect to a different subnet. If each subnet is identified as a site boundary to its own SMS site server, the client would also be assigned to each SMS site.

Suppose an organization, Awesome Computers, finds itself in a support scenario with a local university. Awesome Computers supplies Microsoft Windows NT workstations that the university uses to connect to a support database at Awesome Computers and retrieve information. Both Awesome Computers and the university use SMS 2.0 to manage their equipment. Both need to be able to manage these particular Windows NT workstations. The solution in this case is to install two NICs on each Windows NT workstation. One NIC is connected to the local university's network, the other to Awesome Computers' network. This setup also ensures that each Windows NT workstation is assigned and installed as a client to both the university's and Awesome Computers' SMS sites, and thus both sites can manage the same clients.