SMS 2003 Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach (Paperback)

by Greg Ramsey (Author), Warren Byle (Author)
Key Phrases: site database, site hierarchy, client agents, Operations Guide, Microsoft Systems Management Server, Microsoft Press (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 provides a comprehensive solution for managing the Microsoft platform, enabling organizations to proactively manage their environment. SMS 2003 provides key capabilities like

• Application Deployment
• Asset Management
• Security Patch Management
• Remote User Management
• Mobile Systems Management
• Integration of people, processes, and technology to help solve specific customer scenarios

SMS 2003 Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach provides you with hundreds of quick-reference solutions. It addresses a wide range of problems that all levels of SMS administrators have encountered. Some are simple beginning implementation solutions, while others address high-end automation techniques. The recipes in this book were selected to help you take your SMS environment to a new level of success.

About the Author
Greg Ramsey, a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for SMS, has been working with SMS and desktop deployment since 1998. He currently works for Dell, Inc., in Austin, Texas, as an SMS administrator. He has extensive knowledge in VBScript, WMI, ADSI, SMS Installer, Wise Package Studio, and VB .NET. Prior to 1998, he was a sergeant in the United States Marine Corps. He holds a bachelor's degree in computer sciences and engineering (BSCSE) from The Ohio State University. Greg is a member of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), and he is a columnist for myITforum.com. He is also cofounder of the Ohio SMS Users Group and the creator of SMSView .

Warren Byle is a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) and has been working with SMS for the last seven years. He works at Grange Insurance in Columbus, Ohio, as an SMS engineer. He is cofounder of the Ohio SMS Users Group and serves as chairman.

Product Details

• Paperback: 640 pages
• Publisher: Apress; 1 edition (September 6, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590597125
• ISBN-13: 978-1590597125
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.9 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #411,311 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must have book for any SMS/Scripter, November 21, 2006

By	Ronald Crumbaker (Livermore, KY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A wonderful book with a great approach to problem solving within SMS 2003.

Greg and Warren do a very indepth step by step guide to SMS 2003.

The approach this book takes is simply amazing and well thought out. If you need to find a specific example, it is more than likely covered in this book. If you want to read the book from cover to cover, it flows extremely well from topic to topic.


Buy this book, along with SMS 2003 Administrator's Reference (ISBN: 0471749508) for all your SMS 2003 needs.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally!!!, October 27, 2006

By	R. Muhammed (Montclair, NJ USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

My job sent me to the SMS training plus I purchased 2 books that didn't help me with troubleshooting. I was even calling Microsoft for support they did little help as well.

If you are administering SMS this is a MUST book! I always look at it for a reference now i am finally confident in administering SMS.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Every SMS 2003 Chef needs this book!, April 30, 2007

By	Steve Thompson - See all my reviews

I've been working with Microsoft SMS products for years. Unfortunately, SMS 2003 is a very complex product that takes time to master. After exchanging emails for a couple of years (it seems) I'm glad to have finally met Greg at a recent conference and that he asked me to review a copy of his book.

After reading some of the reviews for Greg's and Warren's book; `SMS 2003 Recipes - A problem-Solution Approach", I can only conclude that some bought this book for the wrong reasons. Rather than comment on any of the wrong reasons; I'd like to comment on what I liked about this book and how SMS Administrators can take their craft to a new level.

What I liked:
- The authors covered the basics of using VBScript to communicate with SMS and managing SMS tasks with VBScript. Discussion of coding best practices, and of interfacing with WMI are key items to cracking the coding mysteries of SMS 2003.

- The overall format of the book is well done; Problem/task statement, how to solve problem through the SMS 2003 MMC, then how to solve/automate the problem/task statement through code.

- Each section of SMS 2003 administration is covered in detail, from automation of site property settings to automation of advertisements.

- Index is excellent - since I do not usually work in a "linear" manner, it's nice to be able to quickly locate a topic and find more information.

- The chapter on building a Virtual SMS lab. While this topic may seem out of place at first in a "recipes" book, I can tell you first hand the importance of testing any code based solution in a lab environment before releasing these changes in production!

Conclusion
SMS is all about automation, saving businesses time and money through automating; hardware & software inventory, and software distribution (to name a few tasks). There are many tasks that SMS administrators perform on a daily basis that can be time consuming, especially when there are many SMS sites that need to be managed. Some of the VBScript code contained in this book is available on various sites. However, Greg and Warren are to be commended for a compilation of this information in one source location and thoroughly explaining its usage. This book is ideal for any SMS administrator looking to take his or her skill set to a higher level of ability!