Novell adds zip to ZENworks

NEWYORK - Novell this week will unveil ZENworks 2.0, an upgrade of the company's directory-enabled desktop management tool that includes:

• Added support for managing software inventories.
• More intelligent software distribution.
• Workstation diagnosis for help desk troubleshooting.

ZENworks provides application, workstation and remote management for NetWare and Windows networks.

On the application management side, ZENworks 2.0 will provide criteria-based software distribution. This will let net managers poll workstations to see whether an application has the hardware and software needed for a successful installation. The new version will also be able to distribute software overnight, as long as a workstation is turned on.

Users will also be able to write macros to customize software installations to include specifications such as a default drive for storing the install or instructions to restart the machine after an install.

For workstation management, Novell has added support for extensible policies for Windows applications, which will let users employ third-party policies. Previously, ZENworks could only work with Microsoft core policies.

ZENworks 2.0 can also poll workstations to maintain a software inventory, which helps to control user licenses and software copies.

In the area of remote management, Novell has added diagnostic tools to help net administrators and help desks troubleshoot remotely. Net administrators will be able to control users' workstations remotely, as well. They will be able to perform all tasks, such as installing software and moving files, as if they were a user sitting at a desktop.

At PC Expo last week, Novell revealed two more distributors of its Internet Caching Services (ICS) software: PC vendors Pionex and Quantex, both of which make "white boxes," or generic-style machines.

In April, Novell announced that Dell and Compaq would be reselling ICS on servers optimized for caching. Dell and Compaq expect to ship products next week, says Mike Wilkson, Novell's ICS product marketing manager.

One network manager who was a beta tester of ICS on a white-box server was impressed with the software's performance. "I've played with the Cisco cache, and I've also played with some Linux-based cache systems - the public domain stuff - and this is by far the best one I've used," says Brian Chee, associate director at the Department of Information and Computer Sciences at the University of Hawaii in Manoa.

Neither Dell nor Compaq has announced the price or availability of its ICS products.

ZENworks 2.0 will ship next week, with a list price of $59 per user. ZENworks supports Windows 95, 98 and NT.