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ENVIRONMENT
The U. S. Navy Engineering Field Activity Chesapeake (EFA-CHES)
is a 420 node network with eleven (11) sites around the Washington DC Metropolitan
area. The field sites are connected the headquarters with high speed lines.
EFA-CHES is a single Windows NT 4.0 Domain with a Primary Domain Controller
(PDC) at the headquarters and a Backup Domain Controller (BDC) at each site.
The servers run Windows NT 4.0 Server, while the workstations mostly run
Windows NT 4.0 Workstation and some Windows 9x.
CHALLENGE
In preparation for the Navy Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI) single
seat management contract, EFA-CHES needed to better manage its infrastructure
with the following goals in mind:
- Provide hardware and software inventory of all EFA-CHES systems and
be able to report on any changes.
- Enable a remote control feature to manage remote desktops.
- Be able to disseminate software installation and updates without manually
touching every machine.
- Provide a security monitoring process.
- Develop a configuration management baseline and standard desktop configuration.
3H Technology (3H) was tasked to provide a solution for this challenge.
SOLUTION
MS Systems Management Server (SMS) 2.0 was chosen to provide a solution
that encompasses: Inventory hardware and software, automatic software distributions,
and remote control functionality. SMS 2.0 with SP 3 and SQL 7.0 with SP
3 were installed on a Dell 2500 system. Due to the high speed connection
between each of the sites, we only needed to install a single SMS Primary
Site. In order to reduce the network traffic, a manual client installation
package was developed and deployed. The manual installation package was
configured to run only on a system without an SMS client. SMS clients were
not installed on some designated systems. There were more than 30 SMS packages
deployed which included large processes like the entire MS Office Suite
and operating systems service packs and small processes like a daily synchronization
of the systems real time clock (RTC). On average each package saved EFA-CHES
more than 800 billable hours of work and provided management with accurate
information on the outcome of the package. 3H provided the following solutions
to meet EFA-CHES needs:
- Client installation was scripted to the logon process and had internal
error checking to determine the state of the installation. The script
reported to the repository all pertinent information on the installation
process. The repository enabled administrators an accurate, effective,
and timely troubleshooting method of each client installation. The script
was pre-defined to identify those systems that required the SMS client
and those that would not receive the installation.
- A software distribution repository was developed to provide both administrators
and management personnel with real time information on the status of
each SMS package. The repository maintained only the latest update of
each package and so represented only the latest information regarding
software distribution. This combined with the standard SMS database
made the configuration management accurate and up to date with the latest
changes. Additionally, reports were generated from a combination of
the SMS database and the repository for real time accuracy.
- Hardware and software inventories were generated to provide both
current and historical records of each client on the network. Software
inventories were customizable to identify either specific applications
or generic to monitor all system software.
- Remote Control agents were installed on each EFA-CHES client providing
helpdesk personnel with an effective troubleshooting tool. This agent
enabled helpdesk personnel to experience the problems identified by
EFA-CHES employees. This process enabled many helpdesk tickets to be
closed during the initial call as helpdesk personnel were able to remotely
troubleshoot computer problems with the user.
- Software installation and updates were scripted and packaged within
SMS and provided installations without user input. This process saved
thousands of billable hours as administrators were able to install and/or
update computers during non-working hours.
- All security updates were monitored by SMS and reported to the repository.
This provided an accurate status of each update and was used to generate
reports of all security updates. Without this quantifiable proof of
installation, the status of the security update is in question.
- Because of the standardization of desktops a baseline was developed
and monitored to better identify future areas of concern or conflict.
The baseline provides a measuring tool to the health and well being
of the systems.
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MS
SMS 2.0 Implementation