* Useful tools from The Gadget Factory
In our continuing quest to find useful third-party utilities for your NetWare network, we must once again dip below the equator and visit the land Down Under. Previous dips below the equator highlighted the tools provided by David Harris (Pegasus Mail) and John Baird (John Baird Utilities), both of whom hail from New Zealand.
Today, though, we look west across the Tasman Sea about 1,500 miles to the shores of Australia and the appropriately named software house The Gadget Factory.
You know a company has been around awhile, and where its true affections lie, when you read on its Web site that it is the “producers of NetWare and NT management tools.” But what does The Gadget Factory have to offer?
Among the offerings for NetWare 4.x, 5.x and 6.x are:
* DSpace – Provides a high-speed summary of how much space each user is consuming on a volume.
* NWExplore – A “Windows Explorer”-style program focusing on the NetWare-specific details.
* UserSpace – Quickly checks the amount of space in each user’s home directory.
* VGadget – Produces a disk space summary of any/all servers in your environment in a matter of seconds (also available for Windows as VgadgetNT).
* wNDIR – Windows version of NDIR (the NetWare directory utility). Produces output suitable for further processing or for use in batch files.
* WhoHasIt – Displays open file and locks on NetWare servers. Allows connections to be cleared or messages sent (also available for Windows as WhoHasItNT).
* NDSMagic – Powerful eDirectory reporting tool. Point-and-click interface enables detailed reports to be produced with minimal eDirectory knowledge.
* LogDate – Reports on the last login date and other login-related information across the eDirectory tree.
* SpaceCheck – A user-centric tool designed to be run at login or scheduled task. SpaceCheck reports on the amount of space used/free by that user in their home directory or shared storage location.
In general, the programs are designed to be run from a workstation and query the server/eDirectory remotely. Dspace and WhoHasIt are fairly widely known (and used), but all are useful to a greater or lesser extent depending on your network. And all are shareware, very inexpensive to license. A Master Site License (allowing unlimited use of all utilities) is only $225, but each utility can be licensed separately – a single-user licensed for Dspace is just $25, for example.
The two Windows products (VgadgetNT and WhoHasItNT) are designed to run on NT4, 2000 and 2003 servers. They will also work on NT4, 2000 professional and XP when they are being used as “peer-to-peer” servers.
Good tools, necessary tools and also good value – try them out today!
