So I have decided to start a IT Admin must have software list I will update the list periodicity when I manage to find the time.
Number one on my list is a tool that is fairly priced and works great in Desktop Support groups as well as Server Administration.
1. DameWare Mini Remote Control / NT Utilities.
Ease of Deployment and Use
- Deployment of the MRC Client Agent Service “on the fly” means the session starts instantly with no machine reboots
- Includes MSI package builder for the easy configuration and installation of the MRC Client Agent Service
- Automatic configuration of Windows Firewall and Advanced Windows Firewall
- Seamless Window feature integrates the remote desktop directly into the administrator’s machine for maximum usability and speed. Navigate the remote machine like it was your own.
- DameWare Mirror Driver delivers enhanced speed and performance
- Ease of use provides “out of the box” ROI
- Robust functionality for remote user support
- Very affordable: licensing is based on the number of administrators using the software, regardless of the number of servers or clients accessed.
Security and Encryption
MRC provides extensive security and encryption capabilities, including multiple authentication methods primarily designed to use the operating system’s built-in security. It also offers additional options of encrypting all communications between the remote and local machines, taking advantage of today’s standards for encryption, hashing, and key exchange.
- Interactive Smart Card Login and Remote Smart Card Authentication using a Smart Card and PIN from your local machine. No Smart Card middleware is required, and no Smart Card reader needs to be installed on the remote machine. MRC is the only known third-party remote administration tool with this capability.
- Encryption via Microsoft’s Cryptographic Providers & CryptoAPIs built into the OS itself, which are also FIPS-140 certified
- Restrict access using IP Filtering
- Restrict access based upon group membership
- Restrict access based upon a shared secret key
- Ability to force encryption for all connections
- Email notifications can be enabled to send an email to a specified address each time a connection is made to a remote machine
End User Support
- Chat
- Instant screenshot capture and save
- Shared sessions/screen sharing
- Simple File Transfer
- Ability to acquire permission from the Desktop User before connecting
- Multi-monitor support
Flexibility of Use
- Multi-monitor support: see the entire remote user’s desktop
- Support for Windows 7, 2008 Server, and Vista
- Supports more than one active connection on WinXP
- Supports more than two active connections on Server 2000/2003: Windows Server 2000/2003 only allows two active sessions. MRC allows users to work around this limitation by sharing a single session, enabling additional concurrent connections with the server.
- Support for 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems
- Support for Fast User Switching as well as Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Program
- Unicode
Connectivity Options
- IPv4 & IPv6 Support
- Proxy Server available for Jump-Hosted environments
- Wake-on-LAN ability
- Ability to connect via Mini Remote style connection or RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) style connection.
Remote control / Support |
Meetings / Presentations |
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Instant remote support – no need for any installation on the client side
Remote maintenance – 24/7 access to remote computers and servers
Remote access – access your data and applications – anytime, anywhere
Home office – access your office computer from home
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Online meetings – have up to 25 participants
Presentations – boost your sales potential
Training session – cut costs by conducting training online
Team work – collaborate online on documents in real-time
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Number three on my list is an opensource project called Fully Automated Nagios.
3. Nagios FAN
The purpose of FAN is to provide a quick and easy installation which includes the most-used tools in the Nagios community. The FAN CD-ROM is ISO-certified, it is thus very easy to install. A large number of tools are also being distributed, which makes the implementation of an efficient monitoring platform much easier.
Linux-based operating system
FAN is based on CentOS. All CentOS packages remain available, so that you can keep all the advantages of CentOS while having the Nagios tools already installed and configured for you.
Integrated tools :
- Nagios : core monitoring application;
- Nagios plug-ins : plug-ins to monitor different equipments;
- Centreon : Web interface for Nagios (Centreon is one of the best for this purpose!);
- NagVis : advanced mapping (geographical, functional, by services…);
- NDOUtils : stores the Nagios data into a MySQL database;
- NRPE : makes it possible to monitor the Windows servers (the NRPE daemon is not provided);
Nagios
Centreon
Nagvis
