Chapter 15 -- Queries and Reports

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Chapter 15

In the first three parts of this book, we've covered the primary functions of Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) 2.0. We've explored the inventory collection process, package distribution and management, software metering, and remote client management. Along the way, a lot of information has made its way into the SMS database, and you've seen periodic references to using a query to extract information from the SMS database—for example, a query might be used as a membership rule to populate a collection or to view status messages generated by various client agents. This section of the book focuses on database maintenance tasks including extracting and analyzing data, setting security, and recovering data.

Queries are an efficient and relatively easy way to retrieve information from the SMS database. SMS also makes Crystal Info available as a reporting tool within the SMS Administrator Console. We will explore both methods of accessing SMS database information in this chapter, and you'll be introduced to another Microsoft Backoffice 4.5 Resource Kit utility to facilitate the analysis of such data. We'll also see how we can use applications such as Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Access to extract and analyze SMS data.