Spotlight on App Management
New management applications help with job scheduling, system configurations, and network security.

Tech•Ed, May 25, 2004

Advanced Systems Concepts offers its ActiveBatch version 5.0 job scheduling and management application with three different GUIs for designers, operators, and administrators, and a new Job Plan tool for simplified creation, execution, and maintenance of individual jobs. New object reference capabilities let users reference, rather than just copy, objects from separate job operations; and new resource, time, and variable constraints enhance existing job and file constraints. Fiscal date/time triggers, including fiscal scheduling triggers, and range-based exit triggers have also been added.

AutoProf has released Policy Maker Professional and Policy Maker Software Update. Policy Maker Professional is a desktop configuration and management system for Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 operating systems that delivers 11 new Group Policy extensions. It manages TCP/IP and shared printer connections, network drive mappings, file and folder configurations, Microsoft Outlook profiles, integration with Microsoft's Group Policy Object Editor, integration with Microsoft's Resultant Set of Policy (RSoP), and Group Policy processing modes and options. Policy Maker Software Update is a Group Policy-based patch management solution that works with Microsoft's Software Update Services.

Celestix Networks has announced its MSA4000 appliance based on Microsoft's new Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2004. MSA4000 is a firewall, VPN (virtual private network), and Web caching appliance, and it provides a suite of management tools. Pricing starts at $2,495.

Configuresoft has announced Enterprise Configuration Manager (ECM) for Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS), which provides centralized assessment, verification, and control of system configurations for large SMS infrastructures. It collects and maintains a database of current SMS Client and SMS Management Server configuration data and provides a granular and enterprise view into SMS internal data. Configuresoft also has plans to release a second management module for SMS that integrates ECM's configuration management capabilities with SMS's software distribution infrastructure. This ECM Connector for SMS will let administrators perform patch and configuration policy assessments with ECM and automatically deploy any necessary patches, service packs, and software applications through SMS. Pricing for ECM starts at $5 per SMS Client and $100 per SMS Management Server. The product supports Windows NT Server 4.0 or later, Windows NT Workstation 4.0 or later, and Microsoft SQL Server 2000 or later.

Lightspeed Systems has introduced Total Traffic Control (TTC) version 5.0, its network security software. TTC has a shared-database architecture that functions to detect and block viruses, worms, spam, and inappropriate Web content. Security features include host- and network-based intrusion prevention, virus scanning, file-integrity checking, and vulnerability assessment. Security Agents receive updates to banned processes and virus signatures, and a virus-scanning engine and virus signature database containing 20,000 signatures scan at the gateway and on PCs running the Security Agent. Files are checked against a database of valid applications and processes. Administrators receive reports of unknown applications. TTC version 5.0 is priced at $10,000, which includes the first year of maintenance.

Sybari Software's Sybari Enterprise Manager, Advanced Spam Manager, and Antigen 8.0 for Exchange and SMTP Gateways are now available. Sybari Enterprise Manager (SEM) is a Web-based management platform that provides centralized deployment and reporting for all servers running Antigen 8.0. Advanced Spam Manager (ASM) 8.0 is an anti-spam and content-filtering solution. ASM automatically creates junk mail folders and has an integrated policy manager. Antigen for Exchange and Antigen for SMTP Gateways are server-based antivirus solutions. They can manage multiple disclaimers for outbound mail. Sybari is also introducing two new technologies: Hot Operation Technology permits upgrades of products, service releases, and hot fixes without recycling services or rebooting the server; Centralized Optimum Update Technology offers a central mechanism for scan-engine updates for multiple remote servers using a push-pull architecture.