SMS Installer can be used to generate installation scripts for applications that do not have a built-in setup program. The administrator uses a collection to specify a client or groups of clients that will receive the program. The collection can include computers, users, or user groups. The administrator advertises programs to the collection. Whenever a new computer is added to the network, it is evaluated to see if it belongs to any collections, if so, it receives any advertisements made to those collections.

     SMS 2.0 includes extensive functionality for tracking the use of software. It uses a seperate database to track all instances of executable programs that are run on all clients within a site. An administrator should plan to configure at least one seperate server to manage software metering. These servers then collect metering data which is stored in a site-wide SQL server database. An agent runs on each client and records the execution of any programs, whether they are run from the network, the local hard disk, or a removable disk. The agent passes this data to the software metering server whenever an application is started or closed.

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