Understanding how HPCM works
Understanding HPCM is aided by viewing the HPCM client/server block diagram, shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3. HPCM block diagram
The underlying infrastructure of HPCM is Notification Server 6.0 (NS 6.0). HPCM 6.1 plugs into NS 6.0, as do a number of other manageability solutions from Altiris, including Altiris Client Management Suite and Altiris Asset Management Suite. HPCM, in concert with NS 6.0, downloads several HPCM agents to each client computer to perform the functions shown above.
Information reported from the HPCM agents to the HPCM Server is stored in a database (Microsoft’s SQL database or, for evaluation purposes, Microsoft’s MSDE database). This database is also used to store the HPCM configuration information that you specify, such as the names of the client computers to be managed. HPCM generates and displays its reports from this database. The Altiris Console window receives its information from a Microsoft’s Internet Information Services (IIS) Web server. The SoftPaq Filestore is used to store the SoftPaqs that will be installed on the client computers, such as hardware drivers and BIOS updates.
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