There are millions of small businesses all over the world: most have just one or two servers and a handful of desktop PCs, and perhaps one part-time system administrator. How are they meant to keep their business systems under control and secure with an internet full of worms and viruses? Surely a simple system management tool is just what they need, but these have been about as common as hen's teeth.
System management tools and frameworks can cost thousands of pounds for even the smallest network, and often require specialised skills to configure and run. The alternative is to go to a consultancy, but even a few hours of an experienced consultant's time can cost hundreds of pounds. Powerful tools such as Microsoft's Small Business Server 2003 are being advertised as the route to efficient, flexible operations, but small and medium-sized businesses need tools to help them keep their complex servers under control.
At the recent Microsoft Management Summit in Las Vegas, which I attended as part of a Microsoft UK press trip, Microsoft announced Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 Express, a version of the enterprise-focused Mom 2005 management tool that had been redesigned to support small business. Microsoft's director of management technologies and products, David Hamilton, described Express as "management for the masses". While it may not deliver the whole of that promise, Express is certainly a long way down that road.
Intended for use with up to 10 servers, Express gives users a dashboard view of their systems to show what is running and what may be causing problems. It's quick to deploy, and can be running in less than an hour. One management server deploys software agents across a network, giving the server console access to application and hardware information.
There are some differences from the enterprise version. For example, Express is unable to connect to other management platforms, and doesn't offer the same level of reporting as Mom 2005. However, these are unlikely to affect smaller businesses.
If a problem occurs, Express will flag the service that has failed. System administrators can then drill down into reports to find the exact cause of the problem, and can even run further diagnostic tests to isolate hardware and software faults. Once a problem has been identified, Express will advise on possible fixes. In a useful touch, system managers can export network and system diagrams as Microsoft Visio files, so they can email annotated images to their partners and service providers.
Express uses the same management pack approach as its enterprise sibling. Management packs are an important part of the Mom frameworks and best thought of as sets of rules for monitoring and managing applications, often developed by support specialists and application development teams. Management packs will often contain step-by-step troubleshooting information, as well as common solutions to problems. And they don't just come from Microsoft: many have been developed by third parties. These include tools for working with Citrix MetaFrame, security management, Oracle databases, and Veritas backup tools.
Microsoft hasn't announced final pricing for Express, but it is expected to be in the order of $500 (£284) for 10 servers. There's a good prospect for return on investment here: that could be the cost of one visit from a service provider to diagnose and fix a problem that could have been handled using one of Express's built-in management packs.
One of the key issues facing system managers is security. The current release of Microsoft's free Baseline Security Advisor (MBSA) will scan and test all the PCs and servers on a network for security risks and missing patches, while providing advice on how to fix any problems that may have been found. MBSA should be part of the toolkit of anyone running Windows servers (or even just one PC!). Its simple graphical user interface makes it suitable for everything from the smallest home network to an office full of PCs and servers.
Of course, Microsoft isn't the only company providing security and management tools for smaller businesses. GFI may be best known for its mail security tools, but its LANguard Network Security Scanner performs a similar function to MBSA, while also identifying all the devices on your network - including Linux systems, network printers and routers. LANguard NSS will also use the BugTraq security database to provide information about other applications that may be running on your network, as well as automatically deploying security patches to operating systems and applications.
Tools such as these should give smaller businesses the resources they need to keep their servers under control. Doing more with less is the key to sales in this market, and with lower prices than enterprise management platforms, plus built-introuble-shooting tips, the new generation of system management tools should prove attractive to IT managers.
