Date: 13 January 2000

Team Members: Robinson Ayala

Denver Saint

Project Advisors: Connie Aman

Steve Hosier

Bonnie Benoit

Our proposal is for the installation and implementation of two servers. System Management Server 1.2 (SMS 1.2) and Standard Query Language 6.5 (SQL 6.5) will be installed. This software is for the management of the network in room H-408. This room is located in the Senator Burns Building on the H wing of the SAIT Campus.

The components required for this project will be:

Hardware

• Two PCs
• Pentium II microchips in both PCs
• 64 MB of RAM in each PC (minimum)
• 600 MB hard disk each PC (minimum)

• Windows NT 4.0 from Microsoft
• SMS Server 1.2 from Microsoft
• SQL Server 6.5 from Microsoft

We request that SAIT provide these components. Prices for the above components are not included since these items are already available through the ICT department.

Upon completion of the installation and implementation of the two servers, the SMS Server will be in charge of keeping inventories of all hardware and software connected to the network in H-408. It will also be in charge of the distribution of software from a central server to the different clients attached to the network. In case of a malfunction or breakdown, the SMS diagnostic tools will be used to get real time information where the problem exists. It will also provide possible advice with respect to troubleshooting actions.

One of the requirements is the existence of SQL Server 6.x database program being installed prior to the setting up of SMS. Therefore, the installation of SQL Server is mandatory considering that All the information gathered by the SMS would be stored in a database administered by the SQL Server.

Standard Query Language will be used to access information on the database useful for the network administrator e.g. monitoring clients for the existence of a specific software package, hardware, configuration, etc. With the corresponding actions: installation, upgrading, patching, removal.

For the implementation of our project, we will need access to room H-408 during regular daytime hours and possibly on some after hours on nights and weekends.

At the end of our project, the installation of the two servers will become an active part of the lab in H-408 for network management and teaching purposes.

The two advisors and clients for our project will be Mrs. Connie Aman and Mr. Dylan Saunders. Connie Aman will be in charge of the evaluation of the proposal and the final report. Mr. Steve Hosier will conduct and evaluate the project progress meetings.

1. A proposal containing all the procedures and different types of tasks to be achieved will be submitted to the client. This project implementation will take effect upon commitment verification from the client in regard to the proposal.
2. Two new computers set up with Windows NT 4.0 operating system loaded and operative. This is an important primary stage since this is needed to implement the SMS and SQL software.

    

    

3. A computer loaded with SMS software will be demonstrated. We will demonstrate the tasks of collecting data from a network, creating inventories of hardware and software. A demonstration on how to distribute software to clients will be preformed to show the operability of SMS Server 1.2.
4. A SMS manual will be handed in. It will consist of approximately three pages containing the most significant details of the operation and navigation of the SMS Server software.

    

5. A computer loaded with SQL query software will be ascertained to promote the interface with the System Manager Server application.
6. A SQL manual will be handed in. It will consist of approximately three pages, which will contain the most significant details of operating and navigating in the SQL query program environment.
7. Report
8. Presentation

Computer communication has become an integral part of our society. A large section of our daily life is dominated by computers: On line education, ATM transactions, supermarket cashiers, internet e-mail, weather forecasts are just but an infinitesimal part of the way computers are used today. With an increasing amount of people be connected to computers the unification of the stand-alone computers into networks was just a matter of time. The result is that networks are found almost everywhere, making available a vast number of resources to solve problems.

However, the advent of the network created a few problems of its own: network traffic, distribution of software to clients, inventories of hardware and software, collapsing of the system, just to name a few. The time that the network administrator dedicates to solving these problems could be overwhelming. Also the lost of resources, information, time, and money could be critical. Many organizations strive against the huge negative impact these problems can cause. Solutions to these problems have been created to assists the network administrators in managing networks. One of the outstanding solutions is System Management Server 1.2.

System Manager Server has many features for use with Microsoft Windows 95, 98, and Windows NT clients. These include automated inventory management, collecting software configuration information, collection of hardware configuration information. The number of clients attached to a server always increases. This makes keeping track of software applications, and hardware components an enormous and complicated task. SMS 1.2 simplifies this task by automatically collecting information and organizing efficiently all the data managed by SQL Server.

Automated and remote software distribution and installation via servers to clients. In every organization there are different groups of individuals in charge of different specific assignments, with varied responsibilities and needs. The network administrator could spend hundreds of hours in a year configuring and tailoring the network resources to the specific needs of these groups. SMS Server cuts down significantly on the amount of time that it would normally take to install and/or upgrade versions of packaged software. This is done by automatically distributing software from a designated server to the clients. It also has the capability to be programmed to install or uninstall software at a given date in the future. It could customize the desktops of different groups according to their needs by assigning and distributing applications as needed.

Remote control of clients for problem resolution. Without the assistance of SMS Server, a network administrator has to make many on-site visits to investigate faults on remote networks and make second visits for reinstallation. Some of the faults could be component failure, or spending long hours physically looking for faults in the local area network. In there are faults in the system, SMS will provide diagnostic tools. Some of the tools include remote control of clients, and assistance in keeping the network up and running.

We strongly believe that the installation and implementation of SMS and SQL Servers in H-408 will be of great benefit to the instructors and students in the lab. The lab already counts with some 4 servers, 2 printers and some 32 PC terminals loaded with dozens of different applications, making the use of SMS is imperative. Having exact inventories of the different hardware and software is something that will assist in future planning to the instructors. The SQL Server will provide these inventories. SMS will help the instructors in cutting down the time needed to load the different package software needed by the students. With the use of the database, control will be implemented to keep track of foreign material downloaded by the students. The SMS Server will be programmed to clean the desktops of the clients and check for possible corruption to essential software. Operations like doing an uninstall-install could be programmed to assure consistency to all the clients. When new applications are needed' any software distribution can be done automatically from a central server to all of the clients. In the case of a network failure, the Diagnostic tools provided by SMS can be used to quickly troubleshoot the problems that arise due to failure.

The hardware needed for this project is two PCs with Pentium II processors with at least 64 megabytes of ram and at least 1 megabyte of hard disk space each. These specifications are the minimum requirements and have been met by the ICT department. One of the PCs is the server called Romulus that is already up and running in the back of H-408. The other PC is a new system stored in the telecommunication room of H-408. The SQL Server 6.5 application will be installed on Romulus. The SMS Server application will be installed on the new PC. A fitting roman name will be picked for the new PC for identification purposes.

Microsoft Windows NT 4.0, Microsoft SQL Server 6.5, and Microsoft SMS Server 1.2 are the three software applications are required for this project. The SQL and THE SMS applications are dependent on Microsoft Windows NT 4.0. That is, they cannot be installed on the servers without the previous installation of Windows NT. SMS is dependent of SQL. Again, the ICT Department has already acquired these packages for the proposed project.

At the dates specified in the Gantt Chart, demonstrations of the different tasks achieved will be achieved. For the SMS server application a request for an inventory will be issued, also a distribution of software operation will be executed.

For the SQL Server application, model queries will be issued to the database to obtain valuable information about the inventories.