SCCM – Part 1: Terminologies & Concepts
Site: A site in SCCM is a server or a collection of servers that manage devices and users in a specific geographical area. There are different types of sites, such as Primary, Secondary, and Central Administration Site (CAS).
Site Server: The server that hosts the primary site or secondary site services of SCCM. It plays a key role in managing configurations and communications within the site.
Site System Roles: These are specific roles assigned to servers that define what functions they perform in the SCCM hierarchy, such as Management Point, Distribution Point, Software Update Point, etc.
Systems Management Server Provider (SMS Provider): It serves as an interface between the SCCM management console and its database.
It can be deployed on the same server as the Primary SCCM Site Server, which is common in smaller environments for simplicity and resource efficiency. However, in larger or more demanding setups, it’s often installed on a separate server to enhance performance and load balancing.
Management Point (MP): A site system role that provides policy and service location information to SCCM clients and receives configuration data from them.
Distribution Point (DP): A system role that stores files needed for software installation and deployment to client machines.
Software Update Point (SUP): A role that integrates with Microsoft Update to retrieve updates and make them available to the SCCM clients.
Client: The SCCM client software is installed on devices to enable interaction with the SCCM server for configurations, software deployment, etc.
Collection: A group of users or devices. Collections are used to manage tasks like software deployment or settings configuration for specific groups.
Application and Package Deployment: These are methods used by SCCM to distribute software. Applications offer more control and flexibility, whereas packages provide a simpler model for software distribution.
Task Sequence: A series of steps used to deploy operating systems or software to a client machine. It’s a powerful tool for comprehensive software installations and updates.
Boundary and Boundary Group: Boundaries are network locations on your intranet that can contain devices you want to manage. Boundary groups are logical groups of boundaries that provide clients access to resources.
Software Center: The application installed on client computers where users can manage and install software deployed through SCCM.
Compliance Settings: These help you assess the compliance of devices with regard to various configurations, such as security, Windows settings, or software updates.
Asset Intelligence: A feature that helps you manage inventory and gather insights about software and hardware used in your organization.
Operating System Deployment (OSD): The process of deploying operating systems to devices in the organization.
Reporting: SCCM provides extensive reporting features that help in generating data for analysis and decision-making.
Configuration Baselines: These are a set of configurations that can be applied to devices to ensure they meet the organization’s standards.
Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI): WMI plays a crucial role in SCCM. It is a component of windows and installed by default with the operating system. The SCCM client utilize WMI to collect information about the device’s hardware and software. And the SCCM servers can leverage WMI to manage the services and components.
Windows Update Agent (WUA): WUA is responsible for scanning the client machine to determine which updates are needed based on the current status of the system and the updates available from Microsoft Updates or WSUS server configured in SCCM.
Time To Live (TTL): This value within the software updates compliance process is an important concept that governs the refresh frequency of the update-related data on client devices.
