Making Things Better
The world is not a perfect place. That's true whether speaking globally of
the conflict in Iraq, tsunamis in the Pacific and the nightmares unfolding in
Africa, or speaking of the world in which we work -- the Microsoft world.
They may not have solutions for world peace, but fortunately, there's no shortage
of vendors scurrying to fix imperfections in the Redmond world. Redmond's heavy
hitters like MOM (soon to be renamed SCOM) and Exchange are both getting help
from a veritable army of third-party peacekeepers.
Lil' Help from My Friends
Systems Center Operations Manager (SCOM) 2007 fans will soon be able to beef
up their troubleshooting capabilities. The Zenprise Connector for Operations
Manager (ZCOM) 2007 promises to reduce the volume of alerts and the time it
takes to troubleshoot problems.
The ZCOM (not the official Zenprise acronym) provides context-sensitive,
step-by-step instructions for problem resolution; management pack extensions
with more than 5,000 diagnostic routines for Exchange, Active Directory, DNS,
IIS and Windows Server Operations Manager; advanced troubleshooting routines
for BlackBerry and Exchange environments; and event correlation group alerts
for your e-mail system.
Exchange admins may also sleep easier if they're running DigiVault. Lucid8's
continuous data protection solution can help recover all your Exchange Server
files. Its SingleTouch recovery feature lets you quickly restore an entire Exchange
database after an outage. The new version 1.6 boasts faster backups, a simplified
setup process, expanded support for Recovery Storage Groups, and Exchange 2007
and 64-bit support.
For the AD crowd, NetPro Computing Inc. just announced a new version of RestoreAdmin.
This tool gives you control over online AD restores and scheduled backups. RestoreAdmin
3.0 lets you restore or roll back any objects without having to waste time taking
your domain controllers offline. It also lets you choose the objects you want
to back up, or recreate deleted objects when you can't run a restore.
Car Troubles
The next time your car dies in the middle of nowhere and you have to use one
of those 800 numbers to call for help, you may have AVIcode Inc. to thank. No,
the Baltimore-based .NET developer isn't getting into the business of changing
flat tires or replacing dropped transmissions. It is, however, supplying Cross
Country Automotive Services with its Intercept Studio .NET application performance-monitoring
tool.
Cross Country is a major player in the roadside assistance market, through
its own auto clubs and contracts with auto manufacturers. Its call centers handle
more than 1 million calls per month, and manage a network of 20,000 towing services
and other roadside service vendors. Nice to know there's a safety .NET like
that the next time you have a flat in Fryeburg, a dead battery in Boise or lose
your keys in Klamath.
Sleepless Nights
Add this to the list of things to ponder: the current state of Internet security.
Trust me, it won't make you sleep any easier. Webroot Software Inc. just released
a report on the increasing sophistication and damage caused by malware.
In Webroot's State of Internet Security report, 43 percent of the companies
it surveyed suffered some sort of disruption of business operations due to a
malware attack. Here are some other disturbing findings:
- 26 percent of those companies reported compromised confidential corporate
data due to spyware;
- 39 percent reported Trojan horse attacks;
- 24 percent reported system monitor attacks;
- 20 percent reported pharming and keylogger attacks.
Pretty grim statistics, especially when you consider the findings of a report
from the Small Business Technology Institute: 20 percent of the companies it
surveyed lack adequate virus protection, more than two-thirds don't even have
an information security plan, and most only put security measures in place following
an incident. What's that saying about closing the barn door after the horses
are out?
Webroot issues its State of Internet Security report on a quarterly basis.
You can get a copy of the latest report at www.webroot.com.
About the Author
Lafe Low is the editorial liaison for ECG Events.