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Chapter 19: Maintaining the Database Through Microsoft SQL Server

Overview

In Chapter 2, “Primary Site Installation,” we outlined the prerequisites for a computer running Microsoft SQL Server to host the Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 database successfully. Let’s recap those requirements here. Recall that to use SMS 2003, you must have installed either SQL Server 7 with Service Pack 3 or later or SQL Server 2000 with Service Pack 3 or later (required to support advanced security mode). Of the two versions, the recommended version is SQL Server 2000, and that’s what we will focus on in this chapter. You can install SQL Server either on its own server or on the same system as the site server. The decision as to which location is more appropriate depends on many factors, not the least of which are the performance capabilities of the server itself.

The same decision also affects the way in which the SMS 2003 installation will proceed. If SQL Server is installed on the same server as SMS 2003, the SMS Setup program can create the necessary database devices and files for you. If SQL Server is installed on a different server, you’ll need to define those devices and files prior to installing SMS.

Several SQL parameters affect the way SQL Server handles the SMS database. Some of those parameters, such as the number of open connections and the amount of memory allocated, were discussed in Chapter 2. Other parameters are discussed in this chapter.

In this chapter we’ll focus on some specific tasks and terms, beginning with the SQL Server components used by the SMS database. Then we’ll look at the management tools available in SQL Server and discuss how to maintain the SMS database using SQL Server 2000. Last, we’ll explore how to modify SQL Server parameters and how to solve the problems that might occur with your SQL Server system. This chapter’s intent is not to teach you all there is to know about SQL Server. Plenty of good books and courses on SQL Server are available to provide you with that information. Here, however, we’ll explore how to maintain the SMS database through SQL Server.

Tip 

It’s possible to install and use SMS 2003 without a working knowledge of SQL Server, but in the long run you’ll need to master at least SQL Server administration tasks. SMS 2003 is not itself a database server; instead, it acts as a front end to the SMS database maintained in SQL Server. Therefore, you’ll need to initiate many database maintenance tasks through SQL Server. Consider taking a class about SQL Server administration, such as Microsoft Official Curriculum (MOC) 2072, “Administering a Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Database.” Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Administrator’s Pocket Consultant and Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Performance Tuning (both published by Microsoft Press) are also good sources of information regarding the execution of administrative tasks and optimizing server performance, respectively.



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