Microsoft's SMS 2003, Server Manager Project To Handle Management In .Net Era

Microsoft

On Monday, the software giant unveiled the beta release of Systems Management Server 2003 to more than 10,000 customers. Systems Management Server, Microsoft's oldest management product, is a deployment and management solution for Windows desktops.

The server upgrade, developed under the code-name Topaz, offers many improvements, including mobile support for desktops, software metering that tracks application usage, Web-based reporting tools and tighter integration with Windows 2000 Active Directory. For instance, the upgrade allows customers to exploit the management facilities in the directory.

Three to six months after the delivery of SMS 2003 next year, Microsoft also plans to expand mobility support by offering asset discovery and management of non-PC devices running Windows CE, Pocket PC and Windows XP Embedded devices.

A key aspect of the .Net architecture enables mobile, non-PC devices to connect to a network and access personal information at any time and from any location.

In addition, Microsoft is planning two SMS 2.0 feature packs including SMS 2.0 Administration feature pack and SMS 2.0 software update services feature pack in the coming months.

But the SMS upgrade is only part of Microsoft's planned management software fleet for the enterprise era.

Following the launch of Windows 2000 Server two years ago, Microsoft shipped new management offerings including Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) and Application Center Server in order to shore up a gaping hole in its product lineup. Up until then, Microsoft offered SMS and rudimentary Windows NT management services, giving third-party software players such as NetIQ a wide-open market opportunity.

Now, as it moves to a services architecture, Microsoft plans a set of systems management, storage and security services for the .Net architecture in the late 2003 and 2004 time frame. Several analyst firms such as Gartner have pointed out that enterprise management remains a major hole in the portfolio of most players in the Web services market.

At Microsoft's .Net briefing day last July, executives also revealed a major effort underfoot called the server manager project, which will attempt to unify Microsoft's management server product set for managing distributed Web service applications in the .Net era.

"The big hole Microsoft has is systems management. The idea is to create a distributed asset database you can build management services against so that if you plug something into a corporate network, it's recognized," said one source briefed on the server manager project, noting that the offering will be serverware that will sit on the network. "Everything plugged into the network announces itself, goes into the database and becomes manageable," the source said.

He said the .Net management services under development are the software equivalent of Sun's Genie.

"Microsoft wants it to be universal so it doesn't matter if it's a printer or a Web service," said the source, adding that client manager and server manager components will exploit the future services. "It keeps track of all things you have in the .Net architecture--every resource including a printer server, disk drive, virtual storage environment or billing and scheduling service."

The server manager project will "understand the context of the application" across the client and server, Microsoft executives said last summer.