Q. What's the Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 Capacity Planner?

A. Microsoft provides the SMS 2003 Capacity Planner tool, which supplements Microsoft's documentation and offers guidance for planning SMS 2003 site designs. You can download the Capacity Planner tool at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=009E0C30-BDED-4B95-A8F9-06037DE85C57&displaylang=en. Double-click the self-compressing executable to extract the tool and user guide. The Capacity Planner is a Microsoft Office Excel spreadsheet containing macros that use information that you enter about your environment and about how SMS will be used to calculate recommended site server placements and predict how much network traffic the design will generate. The tool also recommends the hardware needed for different site system options. The figure at http://www.windowsitpro.com/content/content/45337/sms2003capplanner.gif shows some sample site planning data. The Capacity Planner tool analyzes the data and suggests SMS site topology configurations and corresponding hardware configurations for site servers and site systems. You can find more information about the Capacity Planner tooL here