Managing Terminal Server with Systems Management Server

Management simplification is a big factor for many administrators considering Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition (formerly known as Hydra). These administrators like the fact that Terminal Server installs client software on the server, making installation on distributed client workstations unnecessary. Even so, some administrators need a more powerful management solution. Some of them have a large number of Terminal Server systems to manage, and others must distribute the same software to both Terminal Server machines and conventional PC client machines.

Such managers need a solution that will give them additional cost reduction and heightened management capabilities and control. Microsoft has developed Systems Management Server (SMS) to fill this need. SMS is a key component of Microsoft's Zero Administration for Windows (ZAW) initiative. The combination of SMS and Terminal Server provides a powerful solution platform with lower total administrative costs.

Although Microsoft did not originally design SMS to support Terminal Server, you can easily configure SMS to provide inventory, software distribution, and remote control capabilities in the Terminal Server environment. For more information about how SMS capabilities work differently in a Terminal Server environment, see the sidebar, "SMS Client Architecture in a Terminal Server Multiuser Environment," page 148. In this article, I'll describe how to configure SMS to manage a Terminal Server system and how to prepare an SMS package for execution under Terminal Server.

Changing the published SMS installation process may affect your technical support from Microsoft. If you have a Premier Support agreement, make sure you discuss the changes I'll describe with your support representatives before proceeding. Make backup copies of any files you modify during the implementation of this configuration, and remember to test all changes in a nonproduction environment.

To implement these configuration changes, you'll need SMS 1.2 with Service Pack 3 (SP3) or later, SQL Server 6.5 with SP3 or later, Terminal Server 4.0 with the Application Compatibility Scripts described in the sidebar on page 150, SMS Package Command Manager Service, and the SMS Resource Kit.

Server Configurations for Using SMS and Terminal Server
Make sure you install SMS and SQL Server on a properly configured NT computer that is separate from the machine running Terminal Server. Terminal Server is highly optimized to support foreground terminal sessions in which multiple users simultaneously run workstation-like workloads on the server while sending each screen interface to the appropriate user's device. Terminal Server is not optimized to run other BackOffice applications in the background. Therefore, if you install SMS and SQL Server on the Terminal Server system, the performance of both SMS and SQL Server will suffer.

You can configure a system running Terminal Server as an SMS distribution server to provide the share point for the Package Command Manager (PCM) to copy the package binaries (the .exe, .dll, and other files that comprise the application you want to install). This configuration will not affect the performance of terminal sessions.

Don't install a Terminal Server machine as a domain controller, because this configuration will increase the size of the domain's Security Accounts Manager (SAM) by up to 1KB per user. Also, make sure you don't configure a Terminal Server machine as an SMS logon server. If you do, you must then configure the Terminal Server machine as a domain controller.

Install SMS, SQL Server, and Terminal Server in accordance with the procedures supplied with each product. In the case of SMS, remember that the automatic configuration of logon scripts requires you to properly configure the NT Directory Replicator Service, as documented in the Microsoft manual Systems Management Server: Getting Started, Appendix D.