Best Enterprise Desktop Management: Norton Administrator: The Complete Manager
As networks continue to grow at an amazing rate, companies are finally beginning
to realize the enormous cost of supporting users, personal computers and
applications. With this realization comes the understanding that comprehensive
desktop and asset management are now critical to your company's bottom line.
Say hello to Symantec's Norton Administrator for Networks (NAN) 2.0.
NAN 2.0 is a complete desktop and asset management tool that helps IS managers
and support staff regain control of their network and workstatio
ns. NAN
offers a long list of impressive features that make it a viable suite for
almost any network.
One of the most important features on that list is NAN 2.0's complete hardware
and software inventory capabilities. A complete inventory of all the hardware
and software installed on the machine can be obtained via the agents that
run on the various platforms such as DOS, OS/2, Windows, NT and Macintosh.
In addition, it can gather vital system information such as IP address,
version levels of software and memory usage. This information is vital for
support analysts or for those of you who need to track down all those slow
286 and 386 systems.
NAN 2.0 provides an effective software distribution solution. It allows
for setup across an enterprise that is operating system independent. This
makes it possible to be installed in most LAN environments. The communication
agents are 16 bit, but they provide an adequate level of performance. NAN
2.0 uses distribution servers that enable it to be t
he primary mechanism
for the distribution of data files, system patches and applications from
one location. The distribution servers are key because they allow the administrator
to send out an update to an application across the WAN once, and from there
it is sent to each individual workstation, conserving precious bandwidth.
The software distribution ties into the software/hardware inventory, allowing
the administrator to customize the list of recipients based on their configuration.
Other options for NAN 2.0 include Symantec's Anti-Virus application and
pcANYWHERE for remote control over the network, which can be extremely beneficial
in help desk situations.
While it only provides a NetWare LAN solution, Intel's LANDesk Management
Suite gains our Honorable Mention. This is a powerful tool in the hands
of a knowledgeable user. LANDesk provides all the tools necessary to manage
a network: software distribution, application metering and hardware/software
inventory. You also get network ma
nagement, print management, distributed
server-based alerting and server monitoring. Honorable Mention also goes
to Microsoft's Systems Management Server (SMS) 1.1. SMS provides the most
robust architecture for desktop management. It is most notable for its industrial-strength
database, the foundation for SMS.
Honorable Mention:
LANDesk Management Suite, Intel Corp.
Microsoft Systems Management Server 1.1, Microsoft Corp.
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