Norton Administrator Suite

Manage the computers on your network fromone console

Some people think network administrators have cushy jobs. Those people are wrong.Sure, getting paid to play with hundreds of computers is fun, but most of a network administrator's day is usually spent fixing problems, the farthest thing from having fun. Norton Administrator Suite Premier Edition won't fix all your computer problems, but the software will make your job a lot easier by letting you manage every Windows3.1, Windows 95, Windows NT, and OS/2 computer on the network from one console.You can use Norton Administrator Suite to perform some of the same functions onyour WAN as Microsoft's Systems Management Server (SMS), but without an NT-onlyrestriction.

Norton Administrator Suite ships on one CD-ROM and includes fivecomponents: Norton Administrator, which lets you automatically inventoryhardware and software products; Norton AntiVirus, which provides virus defense;Norton Desktop Administrator, which lets you centrally manage users' desktopinterfaces; pcANYWHERE, which allows remote access to PCs; and Exposé,which lets you manage your servers in a mixed network operating system (NOS)environment. The software requires about 70MB of disk space, including scriptingfunctionality. The installation program lets you selectively install oruninstall the individual components in the suite, so you can choose whichcomponents to implement.

Norton Administrator Suite is rich in functionality. By combining severalessential server management tools, such as Site Manager (which lets you managemultiple sites from a single server) and Exposé for server management,Norton Administrator Suite serves as your one-stop network management shop.Additionally, the scripting tools let administrators use a familiarlanguage to create automation scripts that run in both DOS and Windowsenvironments.

The Norton Administrator component is effective and easy to use. Forexample, after installing the suite on an NT server, I created a hardwareinventory over the network with just a few clicks of the mouse. I then filteredout every 486-based system with less than 16MB of RAM so that I could modifyonly the Pentiums.

One of the suite's better features is the software distribution utility. Ifyou've ever used OS/2's Configuration Installation and Distribution (CID)process, you know how much time this tool can save. The principle behindsoftware distribution is to reduce software installation time by storing thesetup files at a central server. Clients then access and install the softwarefrom this central point. The software distribution utility in NortonAdministrator Suite includes support for the system inventory tools, letting youspecify which computers to install software on (e.g., you can tell the programto leave the 16MB 486 machines out of the Office 97 pool).

Norton Administrator Suite includes software-metering features, utilitiesthat monitor software usage based on the number of licenses you own. Thesefeatures let administrators install software on a central server; purchase theappropriate number of licenses; and limit the number of users who can access thesoftware simultaneously, thus minimizing the risk of license violations.

Creating a metering record is as easy as entering the name of the product,selecting the applications included in the software (Norton Administrator Suitemaintains a list of many popular suites, including Microsoft Office and LotusSmartSuite), and specifying the number of licenses owned, asScreen 1, shows.

Unfortunately, the product's documentation is an electronic manual in AdobeAcrobat format, rather than a hard-copy book. Because Norton Administrator Suitehas so many features, Symantec needs to provide a comprehensive 200-page manualthat you can flip through.

Another shortcoming of Norton Administrator Suite is the absence of somefeatures useful for systems administrators. I expected disk and storagemanagement functions, including disk quotas, to be part of the suite. However,Norton Administrator Suite supports other storage management programs (namelyCheyenne Software's ARCserve), which you can access from Norton AdministratorSuite's toolbar. In the future, I would like to see Norton Administrator Suiteinclude BackOffice management tools.

These minor shortcomings aside, I was surprised and impressed with theproduct's usefulness. Installing a copy of Norton Administrator Suite on aserver makes network administration easier. With Norton Administrator Suite,you'll almost forget the days of running from computer to computer.