If you do integrate AD with SMS 2003, select the Advanced Security option in your SMS 2003 site system. Then you can perform SMS functions using local system and computer accounts, which are more secure than user accounts. Advanced Security generally requires SQL Server 2000 SP3 in Windows authentication-only mode and SMS site servers running Windows 2000 Server SP4 or above, or Windows 2003 Server in an AD native environment. If all your SMS component servers are running W2K SP4 or above, a mixed-mode AD environment will also suffice for the Advanced Security option.
If you're running Microsoft WINS (Windows Internet Naming Service) without AD, you must use SMS 2003's Standard Security mode. That works much like SMS 2.0, with local and domain user accounts running the SMS services and connection accounts for communicating between clients and site servers.
SMS 2003's advanced client, meanwhile, runs only on Windows 2000 and higher, so if you have Windows NT or 98, you'll need to run 2003's legacy client instead. Much like the SMS 2.0 client, the legacy client requires a CAP (Client Access Point) to push and receive data between itself and the site server.
The advanced client really shines with mobile and remote machines. The key is that it uses the HTTP-based BITS (Background Intelligent Transfer Service), which provides background file transfers, checkpoint restarts and bandwidth throttling. Besides letting you use local distribution points for roaming PCs, the advanced client can stage future software deployments. Since it's packaged as a downloadable Microsoft Installer utility, its installation is much more flexible than that of the standard client.Planning a major upgrade for your existing apps can be intimidating. First, SMS 2.0 shops must decide up front whether to do an in-place upgrade or an all-new installation of SMS 2003. In the Online Library included in the SMS 2003 CD, Microsoft recommends a new installation. But you can get more information on upgrading an SMS 2.0 site in Microsoft's SMS Concepts, Planning, and Deployment Guide.
The minimum requirements for upgrading to 2003 from SMS 2.0 are SMS 2.0 SP4, Windows 2000 server SP2 and SQL Server 7.0 SP3. Windows 2003 Server can run SMS on either the Standard, Datacenter or Enterprise Editions (see "Spec It Out," on page 84). If any of your 2.0 sites report to your new 2003 site, they also must be SMS 2.0 SP4 or higher before you upgrade the main site. The SMS site database runs on SQL Server 7.0 SP3 or higher.
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