Systems Management Server 2003 SP1 beta available
ENT News | at | by Mike
Beta testing is underway for the first service pack for Systems Management Server 2003, Microsoft's enterprise product for change and configuration management. SP1 is part of a multi-step plan by Microsoft to continue adding features and functionality to the six-month-old SMS 2003 product through service packs and feature packs. Microsoft is using SP1 to tighten security, increase reliability and improve scalability.
Security enhancements in SP1 include inventory encryption and client authentication; client certificate provisioning; and critical patch management. To improve the reliability of SMS 2003, Microsoft has now built in "Watson" support for server diagnostics.