In the case of a large-scale system, it is simpler to specify a group of systems as a job execution target rather than specifying many systems individually. Examples of targets that are grouped include host groups, ID groups, and directory information. If the managing server is part of a hierarchical structure, the central manager can specify all its lower clients as the targets. The following describes the characteristics of the various groups.

Host groups:

Host groups constitute destinations (targets) grouped by hierarchy, such as by department or by project. The managing server manages not only the group definitions but also the information about the clients that belong to each group. This type of grouping provides a logical hierarchical structure for job destinations. We recommend that you create host groups because such groups simplify management of job destinations.

If you specify that a host group is the destination of a job, the job will be executed on all the clients that belong to that group.

You can group clients by department as well as by project. This enables you to set the groups by department or by project when a project spans departments, as shown in the figure below.

The following figure shows the concept of host groups.

Figure 2-43 Concept of host group

ID groups:

The use of ID groups not only allows registration of member clients, but also allows each client to select the ID groups to which it wishes to belong and to register into those groups. A job executed for an ID group is applied automatically to a new client that has added itself to the ID group; therefore, the managing server does not need to redistribute the corresponding software. Even when ID groups are based on information that is subject to change, such as groups for different OSs or types of machine usage, only the clients affected by a change need to change their ID group memberships. This reduces the system administrator's workload.

The following figure shows the concept of ID groups.

Figure 2-44 Concept of ID groups

Directory information:

Directory information is information being managed in Active Directory that is imported into the managing server. Since the information being managed in Active Directory can be used as is, there is no need to create a new group. Using the directory information is convenient when you execute a job and specify a group as the target.

Furthermore, when a new computer is added, you can update the directory information simply by acquiring the latest information from Active Directory. This simplifies maintenance procedures.

The following figure shows the concept of directory information.

Figure 2-45 Concept of directory information

All lower clients:

This type of destination grouping can be selected for distributing software to be installed on all clients under a relay manager; no preparation of groups is required. The central manager can specify this destination grouping for managing servers that are structured in a hierarchy.

If you send a job specifying all lower clients from the central manager to a relay manager, the relay manager that receives the job executes it on all lower clients.

The following figure shows the concept of all lower clients.

Figure 2-46 Concept of all lower clients