Avocent: Use your BlackBerry to manage your network

KVM switch and network infrastructure management firm Avocent on Sept. 18 will use Interop to introduce a revamped version of SonicAdmin, which gives IT administrators the ability to fix network problems from anywhere via a mobile device.

SonicAdmin is software Avocent gained through its acquisition of Sonic Mobility in 2004. While Avocent has offered the SonicAdmin package in the past, it is now announcing a version company executives say will simplify Windows server management.

SonicAdmin QR (Quick Response) starts at less than $100 per user and SonicAdmin Pro (Power Admin) starts at just less than $400 per user.

Both products enable system administrators to gain access to Windows servers according to their Active Directory rights, all via a Blackberry or any handheld device running Windows Mobile 5. Once IT administrators have access to a server they are able to perform a range of activities including viewing overall server health statistics, shutting down and rebooting servers, reviewing event logs, killing processes and managing Active Directory user accounts.

Click to see: Avocent Sonic Admin Pro

SonicAdmin Pro provides additional capabilities, such as direct access to Exchange servers in order to freeze queues should a virus cause errant e-mails, for example, or to change user passwords.

“Now [with SonicAdmin] an administrator is not only able to receive e-mails and [Windows Systems Management Server] alerts to situations, he’s actually able to act on them using a mobile device to do his job,” says Kyle Peterson, director of product marketing for Avocent Mobile Technologies.

SonicAdmin is managed by the SonicAdmin server, which runs on Windows Server 2000 or 2003, and relays communication between the mobile device and the target servers. Wireless communication is encrypted and the SonicAdmin authenticates each command before it is sent to the target server. Agents do not need to be installed on target servers.