Does SuSE have a tool similar to urpmi? I am familiar with YAST somewhat, but does it fecth files from a remote resource or do I have to keep loading in media?

YaST works in a similar way as urpmi or yum or apt-get.

You have to set up repositories if you want access to a broader pool of packages. In SuSE the Packman and Guru repositories are very complete. Read the sticky thread in this forum to find other repositories.

To add a repository go to: YaST -> Installation Source and then press Add, you have to know the Server address, the directory, the protocol. Once you have done this press Enable and also Refresh. If you want you can turn off the CD or DVD source, just to avoid some conflicts since the packages in the repositories are more updated than the ones of the CDs or DVDs.

Once done that just go to Yast -> Software Management, YaST will automatically refresh the repositories and you'll be pleased to see that you have more packages available, also note that all the packages that you see in blue can be updated.

There is a sticky thread in the Suse forum that has info on how to add repos to YAST. There are also articles on the opensuse website that deal with the same isssue.