No pain, no gain

If you've ever joined a gym, you've probably been admonished to work harder - no pain, no gain. The same maxim applies to desktop management products, the tools that provide centralized support for network management functions such as hardware and software inventory, software distribution and license metering. Deploying them is neither simple nor cheap, but they can make your life easier and your work more cost-effective.

All of the products we looked at work well and get the job done satisfactorily, for the most part. Our Blue Ribbon winner is Intel's LANDesk Management Suite 6.1. It was easy to install and has adequate documentation, an excellent range of features and a well-organized user interface.

Hewlett-Packard's OpenView Desktop Administrator (DTA) 4.0 embodies a grand concept, offering hierarchical data collection geared for multisite enterprise use. The unique communications scheme allows staging of data collection and distribution operations so a network doesn't get overloaded. Data transfer among sites is mediated either by direct access via shared drives; TCP/IP using a proprietary HP protocol; or File Transfer Protocol, which requires that the target server be an FTP server.

While the scope of HP's DTA is impressive, the product is slow and we found the documentation to be unclear and poorly organized.

Seagate Software's Desktop Management Suite (DMS) 3.0 is more a collection of bundled utilities than an integrated system. That said, everything works well if you can get past the disorganized documentation.

Like Seagate's DMS, Tally Systems' Cenergy consists of a collection of bundled utilities. The programs do the job, although the suite's range doesn't include desktop configuration, antivirus or remote control. In addition, Tally doesn't have its own application distribution tool. Instead, the company bundles Seagate's WinINSTALL with the Cenergy suite.

We also looked at two beta products that show considerable promise (see story, page 35). Microsoft's Systems Management Server 2.0 beta employs a hierarchy of management servers and uses a simple and effective management interface. Novell's ManageWise 2.6 beta is a transitional release that builds on a solid foundation. Both products would have scored higher than our Blue Ribbon winner, but we don't rate beta products.

In for the count

All of the products provide client hardware and software inventory functions that work well. There is little to distinguish the products in this category, other than the look and feel of the user interface. We appreciated the well-organized Intel LANDesk interface, which allows users to simultaneously examine multiple clients in separate windows.

LANDesk's inventory system also supports custom forms, which prompt users to interactively enter custom data.

Because inventory tends to produce huge amounts of data, make sure you choose a database and platform that can handle your needs. All the products we tested can inventory DOS, Windows 3.X, 95 and NT machines. Seagate's DMS also supports Macintosh, while LANDesk and the NetCensus component of Tally's Cenergy suite include OS/2 as well.

HP's DTA has the most limited range of client support, but it does include the ability to test client systems. For example, you can benchmark CPUs, test memory and collect PC vendor-specific information such as a serial number.

One of the most complex tasks the products attempt is software distribution. All can handle Windows 95 and NT; none deal with OS/2 installation; and only DTA tackles Macintosh.

All the products provide a huge range of options and tools for remotely installing software. These tools include automatic installation at start-up, scheduled installation and interactive installation controlled by the user (a "pull" system). Seagate's DMS is the only package that offers installation via e-mail (Microsoft Mail, Lotus' cc:Mail, DaVinci Mail, Lotus Notes and Digital's TeamLinks), but it doesn't provide support for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol/Post Office Protocol 3.

The easiest software distribution system to use is Intel's LANDesk. However, LANDesk doesn't allow detailed tailoring of installation packages, while Seagate's DMS and HP's DTA support scripting and control of every aspect of installation.

LANDesk and DMS distribute software by "watching" the target package application being installed. This requires a clean PC - one that has nothing but the operating system on it - on which the monitoring program executes the installation and records its actions. The application can then duplicate the changes on other clients.

Without a doubt, DMS provides the most sophisticated software installation. The fact that its WinINSTALL program is licensed by other desktop management system vendors indicates it's a market leader.

License metering is handled well by all of the products. LANDesk adds tracking of Dynamic Link Libraries, so applications that run from DLLs that are launched by a shell .exe file can be correctly monitored.

Tell me about it

All of the products provide event notification, alerting administrators when all of an application's licenses are being used, for example. Tally's CentaMeter is the least elaborate - it simply logs events in a database and offers no warning mechanism, such as a pop-up box or mail message.

Seagate's DMS has three methods of notification: e-mail via cc:Mail and Microsoft Mail or Exchange; NetWare broadcast; and SNMP trap generation. DMS alerts are generated when user-selected fields in the inventory database change.

HP's DTA and Intel's LANDesk offer more sophisticated, highly configurable event handling and alert generation. DTA has eight methods, including trouble-ticketing using HP's Remedy product; serial port access; text-to-speech generation; and sound files. LANDesk also features eight notification options, including loading a NetWare Loadable Module, sending e-mail by SMTP and displaying a message box. With DTA and LANDesk, you can create alerts when SNMP traps and desktop management system events occur.

Only DTA supports desktop configuration. You can create and enforce very detailed configurations of Windows 95 and NT down to which applications, program groups and folders users can access, and what rights they have to alter them.

Surprisingly, only LANDesk includes antivirus support. The other products don't even discuss the issue, despite the potential to spread viruses through automatic software distribution.

The antivirus support as bundled with LANDesk is really more of a teaser than a true safeguard. It only supports Windows 95 and NT. If you want to include DOS and 16-bit Windows clients, you'll have to purchase Intel's comprehensive LANDesk Virus Protect Server.

All the products tested except Tally's Cenergy have some kind of remote control capability for viewing and controlling PCs. The remote control support in Seagate's DMS and HP's DTA is weak compared with LANDesk. Seagate delivers remote control through a bundled version of Funk Software's Proxy, which only supports DOS, Windows 3.X, 95 and NT. DTA's remote control software is actually Symantec's Norton pcAnywhere, which is sold separately.

LANDesk's remote control support is very good and allows you to reboot PCs, run text-based chat sessions with the PC's user, transfer files and launch applications on the user's PC from the console. You can also see the PC's screen and send keystrokes to it. It supports all flavors of Windows, OS/2, MS-DOS 5.0 or later, NetWare 3.X. and 4.X, and Macintosh.

First things first

To reap all the management benefits detailed above, you must first labor through a complex installation procedure that requires advance planning. Unfortunately, the products' documentation is of limited help in all cases; it ranges from LANDesk's merely good to DMS' poor.

All of the products support Windows 95, NT and Macintosh clients for at least some functions. Only Seagate's DMS doesn't handle OS/2. Intel's LANDesk doesn't support Windows 98 yet, but it's the only product to support Unix.

The connection between the clients and the servers may be IP, IPX or NetBEUI. Most products in this market support all three protocols. The databases used by all the products include Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server and generic Open Database Connectivity. LANDesk and DMS also support Sybase's SQL Anywhere.

While minimum server requirements are relatively modest, the fact is you'll need speed. Once you start to manage a network of 100 or more nodes, database operations will chew up as many cycles as you have. In our tests, LANDesk had the fastest console by far, while DMS ground away on even the simplest tasks.

On the client side, each product's agents can impose a significant performance impact. For example, during an inventory scan or software distribution, the agents can slow down a client when a user is trying to do other work. Most other agent operations are transparent, as they are conducted in the background or are too quick to notice.

If we were looking for the perfect desktop management system for a mid-size network, we would opt for Intel's LANDesk. For a large multisite management system, it would be hard to beat the hierarchical replication architecture of HP's DTA. In both cases, however, we'd like to use Seagate's WinINSTALL for software distribution.

Before you select one of these desktop management products, we advise running extensive tests and taking a long, hard look at how each product's architecture integrates with your network. There's a lot of heavy work involved in implementing one of these. But don't let that scare you too much; the savings in time and money and the improved manageability of your network will make the pain worthwhile.

RELATED LINKS

Scorecard and NetResults
See how the suites stack up in key areas and get vendor contact info.

How we did it
Our test methodology.

Coming soon to a network near you
We take a look at next-gen management apps from Novell and Microsoft.

Issues and Trends
Where the market is heading and what to consider before buying a suite.

Interactive buyer's guide
Find a suite that meets your criteria.

Links
For more desktop management information.

Gibbs is a Network World contributing editor, editorial advisor to Intranet Magazine, and a marketing and technology consultant. He can be reached at mgibbs@gibbs.com.

Gibbs also is a member of the Network World Test Alliance, a cooperative of the premier reviewers in the network industry, each bringing to bear years of practical experience on every review.