We checked out beta versions of Microsoft's Systems Management Server 2.0 (SMS) and Novell's ManageWise 2.6. These are impressive systems and will deserve serious consideration upon their release.
SMS 2.0 Beta 1 is a major upgrade, and it corrects many of the deficiencies of the previous release. It sports new administration and client interfaces, improved reporting and monitoring, new hardware, software and network topology discovery tools, a network problem solver, better software distribution and metering, and improved performance. At this stage of the beta, properly assessing the product is difficult because not all of the pieces are there yet. For example, in this beta only Windows 95 and NT are supported, while support for 16-bit versions of Windows, OS/2 and Macintosh are planned for the final release. NetWare documentation and Novell Directory Services (NDS) support are also lacking, as is interoperability with SMS 1.2 and Alpha server support. Microsoft has designed SMS with enterprise operation in mind. The system supports a distributed hierarchy of management servers with the ability to establish different levels of control for managers of network subsections. For example, a manager can be given the right to use the remote control feature but not to create software distribution packages. SMS requires Microsoft's SQL Server for the back-end database. In this release of SMS, Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 is included for the first time, and its installation and configuration (a real pain if you're not familiar with SQL Server) are fully integrated as part of the installation. The SMS interface is a Microsoft Management Console snap-in and provides access to all of the management functions. The client agent is one of the least obtrusive of the products we tested and stays invisible until user input is required - for example, as part of software distribution or when authorizing a remote console session. Software distribution has been enhanced in SMS 2.0. Network managers can distribute software to specific users, groups and network segments. SMS 2.0 also supports distribution over slower wide-area links. The other part of Microsoft's desktop management strategy for PCs running NT 4.0 Workstation is the Zero Administration Kit for Windows (ZAK). This free kit is described by Microsoft as "a set of methodologies" and focuses on creating desktop configurations that are suitable for the skill level and job objectives of individual users. ZAK is actually a wizard-type process that creates logon scripts and control files that set up target workstations. ZAK is complex, and there are many applications that will be hard to deploy using the system. Even Microsoft Office, a key focus of ZAK, requires updated Dynamic Link Libraries to allow successful ZAK deployment. ZAK is an interesting product that should appeal to organizations with a large base of Windows NT Workstation clients. Overall, Microsoft SMS 2.0 is a powerful product, and organizations that are mainly Microsoft-based will find the product to be an excellent fit with their installed base.New from Novell
Novell hasn't been idle either in the management arena. ManageWise 2.6 is a significant upgrade. However, the product is in a transitional state, thanks to the advent of Novell's new ZENworks product for desktop management. The two products duplicate some functions. For example, they both perform hardware and software inventories, but they do different things with the data they capture: ManageWise stores the inventory data in a separate database, while ZENworks stores its data in NDS. Neither shares the other's data. If you deploy both products (ManageWise for network management and ZENworks for desktop management), running operations such as inventory twice might create a significant overhead issue - the hardware scan that required five minutes per day for each PC will now consume 10 minutes. Multiply that by 1,000 machines, and we're talking 20 man-days per day of lost time, not to mention the contingent bandwidth loss. Judicious scheduling would lesson the impact, but that's not the sort of planning you really want to have to do. Novell's ManageWise product manager told us that the company expects to coordinate and integrate the two lines with product releases in the first half of next year. ManageWise 2.6 is actually a lot more than a desktop management system. It includes network discovery, mapping, packet capture and analysis, and other general network management features. While this is impressive, it is the tie-in with NDS that makes the product outstanding. The integrated view of the network provided by NDS - particularly with the addition of NDS for Windows NT - and augmented by ManageWise, is something no other vendor offers. But it is ZENworks that is the real icing on the cake. ZENworks is a plug-in for the NWADMIN utility and extends the objects in NDS. For example, users can deploy policy packages through ZENworks and NWADMIN to different parts of the NDS tree. This means that a package designed for one locale or business unit is easily associated with the machines in the group. The same mechanism applies to application distribution. Despite the transitional issues, ZENworks and ManageWise 2.6 are impressive products. For IT shops with a significant NetWare investment, they are probably the strongest and safest options available. And when ZENworks is fully integrated with ManageWise, Novell will have one of the premier mid-range network management systems available. RELATED LINKSBack to the review
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