Management vendor targets shared folders

Management vendor Desktop Standard is adding to its PolicyMaker software lineup a new Share Manager package that provides users with tools for centrally managing shared folders on servers and desktops.

Centralized management ensures that shared folders are kept under control and don't grow to become a security risk. Share Manager is an extension to the group-policy management features of Microsoft's Active Director Group policy, which is supported on Windows 2000, XP and Windows Server 2003, lets administrators manage, customize and lock down desktop and server settings based on a set of policies maintained in the directory.

"With [Share Manager] I keep the share naming conventions, the access control lists and everything associated with that network resource consistent," says Alex Diaz, enterprise development manager for Katten Muchin Rosenman, a Chicago law firm. Diaz says group policy means he is in control: "I want to make sure only certain people have access to certain shares. On the back-office servers, we try to enforce hidden shares, so you can't scan the network and attach to resources. By securing the shares, that narrows the risk."

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Management vendor Desktop Standard is adding to its PolicyMaker software lineup a new Share Manager package that provides users with tools for centrally managing shared folders on servers and desktops.

Centralized management ensures that shared folders are kept under control and don't grow to become a security risk. Share Manager is an extension to the group-policy management features of Microsoft's Active Director Group policy, which is supported on Windows 2000, XP and Windows Server 2003, lets administrators manage, customize and lock down desktop and server settings based on a set of policies maintained in the directory.

"With [Share Manager] I keep the share naming conventions, the access control lists and everything associated with that network resource consistent," says Alex Diaz, enterprise development manager for Katten Muchin Rosenman, a Chicago law firm. Diaz says group policy means he is in control: "I want to make sure only certain people have access to certain shares. On the back-office servers, we try to enforce hidden shares, so you can't scan the network and attach to resources. By securing the shares, that narrows the risk."

He says he also uses the software as a disaster-recovery tool. "If I have to rebuild a server or replace hardware, I don't have to rely on a technician to create all the shares again," he says.

Desktop Standard has integrated Share Manager with Microsoft's Access-Based Enumeration (ABE) technology, which was introduced in Windows Server 2003. ABE lets administrators make folders visible only to those who are authorized to see them, a feature that has been a staple of Novell's NetWare for years. With Share Manager, users can set ABE policy on file shares.

In addition to ABE, the main features of Share Manager are its create, modify and delete controls and its set of 25 filters used to target share settings at specific PCs. Among the create, modify and delete controls is one that eliminates specific shares, managed or unmanaged, whether visible or hidden from users. The filters target a PC's share settings based on its hardware features, such as CPU speed and disk space, or its software features, such as operating system, physical address or site domain. For example, administrators can configure filters to remove all unauthorized shared folders on user desktops.

The release of Share Manager comes a week after Desktop Standard released the latest version of its PolicyMaker Software Update, a patch-management system built on group policy. Software Update 2.0 includes support for Microsoft's SQL Server Reporting Services, and it uses the same patch detection as Microsoft's patch tool, Windows Server Update Services.

Software Update is priced at $11 per seat. Share Manager is priced at $10.50 per managed desktop or server.

Read more about infrastructure management in Network World's Infrastructure Management section.