Simplified server updates

Software distribution and version control are annoying enough when you're dealing with client machines. When you have multiple servers, you can't help but think there must be some good way to keep them in sync.

NetPro Computing, Inc. has come up with one. Config Central helps network administrators manage the many versions of software drivers and NetWare Loadable Modules (NLM) on each of their servers.

By allowing you to take a proactive approach to server management, Config Central keeps your network healthier with less unplanned downtime. Config Central performs only a handful of tasks, but it carries them out well enough to earn our World Class Award.

Old NLMs, new problems

Often, you discover an outdated NLM only when a server crashes, forcing you to track down the culprit and install a new version. You then must update the server that experienced the hiccup as well as the rest of the servers on your network.

Config Central puts all that in the past by making it easy to keep all the NetWare 3.12 and 4.1X servers on your network loaded with the most current NLMs.

First, to help you spot version differences, Config Central generates reports that display what file versions are loaded on each server. The program scans for .NLM, .DSK, .LAN, .HAM, .NAM and .CDM files. The reports help you spot old files quickly, but they can be very large - our report spanned 67 pages. You can apply filters before generating a report to display only the NLMs you're concerned about.

The next step is to update the old files from a server with a more recent version. Config Central uses a reference server that you must keep up to date as the standard bearer for the network. You need one for each version of NetWare you use. Unfortunately, the program lacks the ability to scan the Novell, Inc. Web site for updated files, which would help with the chore.

A scheduling feature allows you to plan when updates are to be performed. For example, you can schedule them for overnight when server activity is at a minimum.

An undo feature lets you roll your server back to its original state after an upgrade. Just knowing this feature is available relieves a lot of the stress involved with system updates.

Config Central also allows you to send commands to each server from your desktop without having to use RCONSOLE. You also can use it to edit .NCF or configuration files on the DOS partition of any server and distribute the changes to multiple servers.

Installation

Installation is simple - all you need is a Windows 95 or NT client using Novell's Client 32 or VLM drivers. During the installation, Config Central scans the network for NetWare servers and asks which ones you want to manage. The program sends two agent NLMs to the selected servers and modifies their AUTOEXEC.NCF files to load the agents each time the server restarts.

The Config Central interface is simple, but there aren't any wizards to walk you through the most common tasks, so you'll need to keep the manual close at hand. Likewise, understanding the more advanced capabilities of the program requires that you refer to the manual. Thankfully, the documentation is clear, concise and full of examples with screenshots.

We were disappointed by the lack of a macro or scripting feature that would let us execute frequently performed tasks with a single click of the mouse. This would be handy for generating reports on a regular basis and outputting the results to a database.

Our other main disappointment was that we couldn't organize connected servers into logical groups. This isn't a big deal for smaller networks, but if you have a lot of servers or your server names are cryptic, it would be nice to group similar servers together rather than having them listed alphabetically.

NetPro offers a 10-server, 30-day evaluation version of Config Central on its Web site. That might be enough time to get your servers in shipshape, but to keep them that way, you'll have to shell out $195 per server (less in volume). That sounds like a bargain to us.