Figure 2. Microsoft's New Management Vision.
Microsoft proposes a tiered approach to systems management with its DSI initiative. The first tier focuses on agents or clients: MOM agents are deployed to server systems and are enhanced with Management Pack functionality; SMS agents are focused on the new Advanced Client; and other client requirements are built into the operating system. The second tier focuses on management services: Here we find Active Directory, MOM Management Servers, SMS Site Servers along with Management and Service Locator Points, and the System Center server. The third tier concentrates on data management; all data is stored in SQL Server 2000 and each service has its own database. The operator console is designed to interact with these technologies. To do so, it requires the Windows Administration Tools, the GPMC, the SMS console, the MOM Operators console, and the System Center console. The latter gives you an integrated view into the database contents of both MOM and SMS.